LIBRAR Y OF C ONGRESS, 

Chap. F ^ 
Shelf 

PRESENTED BY 5 ^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



PROCEEDINGS 



New Hampshire Society 




1 1 ill ill 



1889-1897 

lA3 



Otis G. Hammond Chairman 
Arthur H. Chase 
Howard F. Hill 

Committee on Publication 



Published bv the Society 

CONCORD 

1898 



V^. ■ V^ . Vw ■ 



10556 



^^i^fcom^ 






SOME OF THE CONTENTS. 



First constitution and by-laws 

Preliminary meeting 

Permanent organization 

First annual meeting, 1889 

Second annual meeting, 1890 

Third annual meeting, 1891 . 

Bennington party . . , 

Fourth annual meeting, 1892 

Fifth annual meeting, 1893 . 

Sixth annual meeting, 1894 . 

Dedication, East Concord 

Seventh annual meeting, 1895 

New constitution and by-laws 

Eighth annual meeting, 1896 

Ninth annual meeting, 1897 

Field day, 1897 . 

Last fourteen survivors of Revolutionary army 

Index ........ 



PAGE. 

5 
10 
10 
12 
21 
4i 
45 
46 

5° 
55 
93 
104 
109 
146 
191 
209 
223 
229 



PROCEEDINGS 

OF THE 

NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

OF 

SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 



The undersigned hereby associate together to be a cor- 
poration under chapter 151 of the general laws of the 
state of New Hampshire, to be known as The New 
Hampshire Society of the Sons of the Revolution, the 
purpose of which society shall be to keep alive among 
ourselves and our descendants, and in the community, 
the patriotic spirit of the men who, in military or naval 
service, contributed to the achievement of American 
independence ; to collect and secure for preservation 
manuscript rolls, records, letters, papers ( whether pub- 
lic or private), relating to the war of the Revolution; 
and to promote social intercourse and good feeling 
among its own members and those of like societies in 
other states ; and, in furtherance of said objects, we 
hereby adopt the following constitution and by-laws : 

CONSTITUTION. 

Article i . The name and objects of this society shall be as 
hereinbefore stated. 

Article 2. Any person shall be eligible for membership in this 
society, who is of the age of twenty-one years, and who is descended 
from an ancestor who performed military or naval service in the Revo- 
lutionary war. 



D PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Article 3. The officers of this society shall be a President, Vice- 
Presidents (in number at the option of the society from time to time). 
a Secretary and Treasurer, a Board of Managers of five* members, 
besides the President and Secretary, ex officio. 

Article 4. This constitution shall be altered only by a vote of 
three fourths of the members present and voting at a regular meeting 
of the society, or at a special meeting called for the purpose. 

BY-LAWS. 

Section i . Candidates for membership may send their names, 
with evidence of qualification, to the Secretary, and, upon a favorable 
report from the Board of Managers and payment of one dollar, shall 
become members. 

Section 2. Each member shall pay annually, after the first year, 
the sum of one dollar ; and the payment of twenty dollars shall con- 
stitute any member a life member, who shall thereafter be exempt 
from annual dues. 

Section 3. The annual meeting shall be held on the seventeenth 
of June, at which a general election of officers by ballot shall take 
place, except when such date shall fall on Sunday, in which event the 
meeting shall be held on the following day. A major vote shall be 
requisite to the choice. Old officers shall hold until the election and 
acceptance of new. 

Section 4. The annual meeting and all special meetings shall be 
held at the State House in Concord until otherwise ordered, and shall 
be called by notice given, in two or more papers, at least one week 
prior to the day of meeting. 

Section 5. The Board of Managers shall call special meetings, 
through the Secretary, upon written request of five members, and at 
such other times as they may deem expedient. They shall recom- 
mend plans for promoting the objects of the society, shall digest and 
prepare business, shall direct and superintend its finances, and have 
charge of its interests generally. 

Section 6. These by-laws may be amended conformably to the 
provision for the amendment of the constitution. 

Section 7. The first meeting of this society, shall, without fur- 
ther notice, be held at the Senate chamber of the State House, April 
24, 1889, at 12 o'clock noon. 

•Changed to seven, June 17, 1889. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



Application 
approved when. 



Fee paid. 



May 15. 



Apr. 24. Thomas Jefferson Weeks. 

Henry M. Fuller. 

John Haven Hill. 

Charles Eastman Staniels. 

John McClary Hill. 

Charles R. Morrison. 

Fred Leighton. 

Hiram King Slayton. 

George C. Gilmore. 

Isaac W. Hammond. 

Sylvester Dana. 

Lewis Downing, Jr. 

Edward Aiken. 

George W. Hill. 

Joshua G. Hall. 

James Willis Patterson. 

Charles H. Wilson. 

John Waldron. 
John T. Welch. 

Thomas Wheat. 

Worthen D. Whittaker. 

Samuel L. Gerould. 

Howard L. Porter. 
A. H. Robinson. 
Edward F. Smyth. 

Moses French. 
Hiram F. Newell. 
Daniel F. Straw. 
John S. Kidder. 
William W T . Bailey. 
Edward C. Aiken. 
Isaac B. Dodge. 
Henry H. Buzzell. 
John W. Crosby. 
Miss Ada E. Crosby. 
Mrs. Lydia M. Bennett. 
Frank H. George. 
George Emerson. 



Apr. 24. Hopkinton. 
Concord. 



Apr. 24. 



May 15. 
Apr. 24 
May 15. 



June 14. 





Manchester. 




Concord. 




Amherst. 




Concord. 


25- 


Dover. 




Hanover. 




Concord. 


May 1 . 


Farmington. 


4- 


Dover. 


9 


Manchester. 


Apr. 24. 


Hinsdale. 




Hollis. 


May 3. 


Concord. 


10. 


" 


Apr. 26. 


Tilton. 


24. 


Manchester. 


May 14. 


Pomfret, Conn 


J5- 


Manchester. 


20. 


Nashua. 


3i- 


Manchester. 


24. 


Amherst. 


27. 


Lake Village. 


3i- 


Milford. 


June 1. 


Alton. 


3- 


Concord. 


4- 


Manchester. 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



Application 
approved when. 



June 14. 



Apr. 24. 
June 17. 



22. 
Sept. 6. 



Oct. 14. 



1890. 
May 13. 



Joel F. Osgood, Jr. 
James A. Edgerly. 
Mrs. Adelaide C. Waldron. 
George H. Davis. 
Abraham L. Williams. 
Albert S. Batchellor. 
Henry O. Kent. 
Freeman A. Garland. 
Reuben C. Danforth. 
Charles L. Tappan. 
Leonard A. Morrison. 
Charles F. Hoyt. 
Franklin B. Thurston. 
Charles S. Parker. 
Mrs. Anne M. Parker. 
George W. Nesmith. 
William S. Briggs. 
Thomas Cogswell. 
John W. Sturtevant. 
Joseph B. Walker. 
Oliver E. Branch. 
George A. Leavitt. 
Francis C. Faulkner. 
J. W. Lamson. 
Orrin D. Huse. 
George Byron Chandler. 
Albert Judson Nay. 
Christopher C. Shaw. 
John Ballard. 
Abraham Emerson. 
J. S. Morrison. 

John Hosley. 

Admitted as of date of appl 
William B. Stearns. 
Harry Pearl Hammond. 
Bradbury Longfellow Cilley. 



Fee paid. 




June 


5- 


Amherst. 
Great Falls. 




'3- 


.Farmington. 
Concord. 
Enfield. 
Littleton. 
Lancaster. 
Nashua. 




14. 


Concord. 




12. 


Canobie Lake 




17. 


Manchester. 
Concord. 




19. 


Franklin. 




21. 


Keene. 




2 5- 


Gilmanton. 

Keene. 

Concord. 




26. 


Weare. 
Sanbornton. 


July 


1 1. 


Keene. 
Manchester. 




12. 


Sanbornton. 




17- 


Manchester. 


Aug. 


20. 


" 




26. 


Milford. 


Sept. 


13- 


Concord. 


Oct. 


14. 


Candia. 


Sept. 


20. 


Athens, Ga. 


Nov. 


27. 


Manchester. 


ication 


, No 


member 27, i88< 


Oct. 


19. 


Manchester. 


May 


13- 


Concord. 


June 


4- 


Exeter. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



Application 
approved when. 


Fee paid. 




1890. 








June 16. 


Dixi Crosby. 


June 16. 


Hanover. 




Josiah C. Eastman. 




Hampstead. 


7- 


George N. Eastman. 


7- 


Farmington. 


17- 


Mrs. Rosalie Hammond Porter. 


i7- 


Concord. 




Daniel Clark. 




Manchester. 




Amos Hadley. 




Concord. 




A. L. Meserve. 




Bartlett. 




Howard F. Hill. 




Concord. 


July 8. 


George F. Danforth. 


JulyS. 


Rochester, N.Y 




James Mitchell. 




Manchester. 




John Kimball. 


15- 


Concord. 



10 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

PRELIMINARY MEETING. 

Pursuant to a circular issued by the chairman of a 
committee of the Sons of the Revolution of New Jersey, 
a preliminary meeting was held in the Senate chamber 
of the State House, Concord, at 10 a. m., Wednesday, 
April 17, 1889. 

Edward Aiken, in whose hands the circular had been 
placed by the Secretary of State, the original recipient, 
called to order, and nominated C. R. Morrison for mod- 
erator, who was chosen, and took the chair. Edward 
Aiken was chosen Secretary. 

A committee on permanent organization was chosen, 
consisting of John M. Hill, Howard L. Porter, 
Leonard A. Morrison, Charles E. Staniels, and the 
Secretary. 

Adjourned one week to meet at the same place at 

11 a. m., Wednesday, April 24. 



PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 

The committee, on which C. R. [Morrison] had 
by request taken the place of L. A. Morrison (who 
was unable to attend), met Monday, April 22, and 
prepared a constitution and by-laws to be submitted to 
the society ; and, at the hour appointed, Wednesday, 
April 24, presented it for action. It was adopted and 
signed. 

Proceeded to choose officers, to hold till the annual 
meeting, June 17, as follows : 

President, C. R. Morrison ; Vice-Presidents, Thomas 
J. Weeks, George C. Gilmore, Sylvester Dana, and 
Moses French ; Secretary and Treasurer, Edward 




Charles R. Morrison. 

1889-91. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 11 

Aiken (who was duly sworn by the President) ; Board 
of Managers, H. K. Slayton, Charles E. Staniels, John 
M. Hill, Isaac W. Hammond, Lewis Downing (and the 
President and Secretary, ex officio). 

The call from the state society of New Jersey having 
been read, it was voted that the invitation be accepted, 
and resolved that we proceed to elect, by ballot, dele- 
gates, as therein suggested, and that said delegates, 
when chosen, shall be authorized to unite with delegates 
from other societies, including the state of New Jersey, 
in forming a National Society, in furtherance of the gen- 
eral objects for which this society has been formed, to 
be composed of delegates, chosen from time to time, by 
state societies, and to be organized under such name 
as shall be deemed expedient, but to have no legisla- 
tive or judicial power over state societies, beyond deter- 
mining its own composition and procedure and times 
and places of meeting. 

The President, C. R. Morrison, II. K. Slayton, and 
Fred Leighton were chosen delegates. 

Adjourned to the annual meeting, June 17, subject to 
call as prescribed in the by-laws. 

The Board of Managers were notified to meet Wed- 
nesday, May 15. 



May 15. Managers met as ordered. All present 
but Mr. Staniels. Voted that Mr. Isaac W. Hammond 
be constituted a special agent for the purpose of obtain- 
ing members, with full powers to act in such behalf. 

Voted to pay William O. McDowell $5 for organizing. 

Voted to adjourn subject to the call of the President 
through the Secretary. Applications approved. 



12 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

June 14. Managers met as ordered. Applications 
approved. Appointed H. L. Porter delegate to the 
Massachusetts annual meeting at the Parker House, 
Boston, noon of the 17th. A letter was read from Mr. 
Slayton and placed on file. The printing of fifty 
postals with the call for annual meeting was authorized. 



June 17. Managers met at 10 a. m. in the ante-room 
of the Secretary of State. All remaining applications 
were approved. 



FIRST ANNUAL MEETING, 1889. 

The society met in the judiciary room at the State 
House at 11 a. m. The President, C. R. Morrison, 
called upon Rev. Charles L. Tappan, one of out- 
number, to offer prayer. The records of previous 
meetings were read and approved. 

A paper on the proceedings of the convention at New 
York, and the proposed constitution and by-laws of the 
National Society, and its adoption by our state society, 
was read by the President, the chairman of the New 
Hampshire delegation. Laid on the table. 

[This paper cannot now be found. The following 
extract is copied from the Peofle and Patriot of June 
17, 1889:] 

" Prof. Taylor, of Andover Seminary, in an eloquent sermon at the 
South church yesterday, upon ' What the Present owes to the Past,' 
said : ' I am not well enough informed of your affairs to know 
whether your state has erected a statue to Gen. Stark, but it ought 
to do it if it has not, for Stark at Bunker Hill, with his men from 
New Hampshire behind a rail fence, saved Prescott's detachment 
from annihilation. 1 

4 ' It is indeed to the discredit of the descendants of those intrepid 
men at Bunker Hill that to this dav their heroic dead have been 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 13 

imperfectly recorded, and there is now no statue to Stark, to whom, 
after Washington, perhaps more than any other, is the state and the 
country indebted for its freedom from British domination. 

"Your Board of Managers, therefore, under their authority to 
recommend plans for promoting the objects of the society, do rec- 
ommend the appointment, at this meeting, of two committees 
empowered to employ sub-agents, one to induce favorable action by 
the legislature, now in session, for a statue to Gen. Stark, to be 
placed as a companion piece to that of the immortal Webster, and 
the other, upon careful research, to report to our next annual meet- 
ing * New Hampshire at Bunker Hill.' " 

Resolutions of the Board of Managers recommend- 
ing the appointment of two committees, empowered to 
employ sub-agents, one to induce favorable action by 
the legislature now in session for a statue to Gen. John 
Stark, to be placed as a companion piece to that of the 
immortal Webster : and the other, upon careful re- 
search, to report to our next annual meeting upon 
"New Hampshire at Bunker Hill," were laid on the 
table till after election. 

The President was unanimously reelected, the ballot 
being emphasized by a rising vote. 

A committee on nomination, appointed by the chair, 
reported the name of the Secretary and Treasurer for 
reelection, which he declined. 

Article 3 of the constitution was amended so as to 
allow seven instead of five members on the Board of 
Managers, besides the members ex officio. 

The nominating committee recommended, also, the 
following officers, who were unanimously elected: 

Vice-Presidents, George C. Gilmore of Manchester, 
Mrs. Adelaide Cilley Waldron of Farmington, Mrs. 
Lydia Morrison Bennett of Alton, Henry H. Buzzell of 
Lake Village, Edward F. Smyth of Tilton, Thomas 
Jefferson Weeks of Hopkinton, Moses French of Man- 
chester, and Sylvester Dana of Concord. 



14 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Secretary and Treasurer, Isaac W. Hammond. 

Board of Managers, Hiram K. Slayton, John M. 
Hill, Charles E. Staniels, Edward Aiken, Joshua G. 
Hall, William W. Bailey, James W. Patterson. 

The report on the New York convention and the pro- 
posed constitution and by-laws of the National Society 
was taken up and referred to the Board of Managers, 
who were also instructed to secure a proper commemo- 
ration of " the day we celebrate," at our next annual 
meeting. 

The resolutions for the appointment of the two com- 
mittees were next considered, and it was voted that 
each committee consist of seven persons, the President 
to be chairman of the monumental one, and that he be 
given time to appoint them. 

An eloquent address was delivered by J. W. Patter- 
son, and speeches made by several other gentlemen. 

[No copy of this address can be found. — Ed.] 

The Treasurer's report was read and referred to 
Messrs. John M. Hill and C. E. Staniels as auditors, 
who subsequently reported it correctly cast and properly 
vouched. 

TREASURER'S REPORT. 

Receipts. 
From members' fees ........ $53.00 

Expenditures. 

For printing slips, $0.75, $0.75 ; cards, $0.75 . . . $2.25 

bill beads, $2.25 ; blanks, $5.50 . . . 7.75 

advertisements of articles .... 7.00 

organization (to W. O. McDowell ofN. J.) . . . 5.00 

record book, $0.60; paper, $1.00; envelopes, $1.00 . 2.60 

postals, $ 1 .00 ; stamps, $1.40 ..... 2.40 

Total $27.00 

On hand 26.00 

$53.00 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 15 

I have examined the account of Dr. Edwin Aiken, Treasurer, and 
find the same correctly cast and properly vouched. 

John M. Hill, 
Concord, June 17, 18S9. for Auditors. 

Adjourned to the next annual meeting. ■ 
Isaac W. Hammond, Secretary-elect, was sworn June 
20, 1889. 

Edward Aiken. 



COMMITTEE ON STATUE OF JOHN STARK. 

Concord, June 28, 1889. 

In accordance with a vote of the society at the 
annual meeting on the seventeenth instant, the Presi- 
dent has appointed the following named gentlemen to 
constitute the committee on statue of Gen. John Stark, 
of which the President is chairman : 

Joshua G. Hall, Dover; James A. Edgerly, Somers- 
worth ; William W. Bailey, Nashua; George C. Gil- 
more, Manchester; John M. Hill, Concord; Thomas 
Cogswell, Gilmanton ; Henry O. Kent, Lancaster. 



COMMITTEE ON NEW HAMPSHIRE AT BUNKER HILL. 

Concord, July 1, 1889. 

To Isaac W. Hammond, Secretary of the New Hamp- 
shire Society of Sons of the Revolution : 

For the committee to report at the next annual meet- 
ing upon " New Hampshire at Bunker Hill," I desig- 
nate as authorized by vote : 



16 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Albert S. Batchellor of Littleton. 

J. Willis Patterson of Hanover. 

George W. Nesmith of Franklin. 

Joseph B. Walker of Concord. 

Isaac W. Hammond of Concord. 

Samuel L. Gerould of Hollis. 

Leonard A. Morrison of Windham. 
Said Patterson is authorized to call a meeting of the 
committee for organization and such division of labor 
as may be deemed expedient. 

C. R. Morrison, President. 
A correct record. 

Isaac W. Hammond, Secretary. 



MEETING OF BOARD OF MANAGERS, SEPTEMBER 
6, 1896. 

Present, Charles R. Morrison, President, ex officio; 

Isaac W. Hammond, Secretary, ex officio; Hiram K. 

Slayton, James W. Patterson, Edward Aiken, William 

W. Bailey. 

Applications for membership were received from the 

following named persons, all of which were approved, 

and the applicants were by vote admitted as members of 

this society. 

William S. Briggs, Thomas Cogswell, 

John W. Sturtevant, Joseph B. Walker, 

Oliver E. Branch, George A. Leavitt, 

Francis C. Faulkner, J. W. Lamson, 

Orrin D. Huse, George B. Chandler, 

Albert J. Nay, Christopher C. Shaw. 

The matter of membership certificates was consid- 
ered, and on motion it was voted, that Joseph B. 
Walker and Isaac W. Hammond be a committee to 
take the matter into consideration, and submit forms at 
the next meeting. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 17 

On motion, the Secretary was instructed to procure a 
sufficient number of copies of our constitution printed, 
including a list of the officers. 

Adjourned to meet at the call of the President. 

A correct record, attest, 

Isaac W. Hammond, Secretary. 



The committee on New Hampshire at Bunker Hill 
met at the office of J. W. Patterson, State House, Sep- 
tember 6, 1889, and was called to order by Mr. Pat- 
terson. 

The committee organized by the choice of George 
W. Nesmith, President; James W. Patterson, Vice- 
President; Isaac W. Hammond, Secretary. 

There were present in addition to the foregoing, 
S. L. Gerould, Joseph B. Walker, and George C. 
Gilmore. 

Some time was spent in discussing the matter, and it 
was agreed that each member of the committee should 
make researches, and prepare notes to submit at some 
future meeting to be called by the President. 

Isaac W. Hammond, Secretary. 



MEETING OF BOARD OF MANAGERS, OCTOBER 14, 1889. 

The meeting was held at rooms of the New Hamp- 
shire Historical Society in accordance with a call issued 
by the Secretary, by order of the President. 

President Charles R. Morrison in the chair. 

Applications for membership were received from the 
following named persons, all of which were approved 
and the applicants were by vote admitted as members 
of the society. 

John Ballard, Abraham Emerson, and J. S. Morrison. 



18 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The President presented the correspondence between 
himself and the President of the National Society, 
L. P. Deming. 

George C. Gilmore moved that the delegation from 
this society shall have full power to act in the matter of 
uniting with the National Society. The motion was 
carried and the delegation instructed accordingly. 

On motion, adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Isaac W. Hammond, Secretary. 



MEETING OF BOARD OF MANAGERS, MAY 13, 1890. 

The meeting was held at the iudiciary committee 
room, State House, at n o'clock a. m., with the Presi- 
dent, Charles R. Morrison, in the chair. 

Present, Charles R. Morrison, J. W. Patterson, 
George C. Gilmore, H. K. Slayton, and C. L. Tap- 
pan. A quorum not being present no action was 
taken. 

The President presented the correspondence between 
himself and the officers of the National Society and 
expressed his dissent to some of the measures taken by 
the National Society. 

It appeared to be the opinion of those present that 
more could be done toward elevating New Hampshire 
to her rightful place in history by continuing a separate 
society than by joining the National Society. 

Discussion was had as to the advisability of postpon- 
ing the address appointed for the annual meeting on 
the 17th of June, to the day on which the statue of 
General Stark will be dedicated. 

H. P. Hammond was elected Secretary -pro tern. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 19 

Applications for membership were received from the 
following named persons, all of which were approved 
and the applicants were by vote admitted as members of 
the society. 

John Hosley, William B. Stearns, 

Bradbury L. Cilley, Harry Pearl Hammond. 

Mr. Hosley was admitted to date from date of appli- 
cation. 

Adjourned to Tuesday, May 20, 1890. 
A true record, attest, 

Harry P. Hammond, Secretary fro tern. 



MEETING OF BOARD OF MANAGERS, MAY 20, 1890. 

The adjourned meeting was called to order at the 
judiciary committee room, State House, at 11 o'clock 
a. m., with the President, Charles R. Morrison, in the 
chair. 

A quorum not being present the meeting was ad- 
journed to the afternoon, when it was again called to 
order by the President. Quorum not present. 

There were present, Charles R. Morrison, John M. 
Hill, and William W. Bailey. 

George C. Gil more was appointed by the President 
a member of the Bunker Hill committee to fill vacancy 
caused by the death of George W. Nesmith, and it was 
decided that the committee should report at the annual 
meeting, June 17, 1890. 

It was agreed that the annual address and banquet 
be postponed till the time of the dedication of the statue 
of Gen. John Stark. 

Adjourned to meet at call of the President. 

A true record, attest, 

Harry P. Hammond, 

Secretary of Board of Managers. 



20 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

MEETING OF BOARD OF MANAGERS, JUNE 16, 1890. 

The meeting was called at 11 o'clock a. m., at the 
judiciary committee room, State House, but a quorum 
not being present the meeting was adjourned to 3 o'clock 
p. m., when it was called to order at the office of J. W. 
Patterson, with the President, C. R. Morrison, in the 
chair. 

There were present C. R. Morrison, J. W. Patterson, 
J. B. Walker, J. M. Hill, G. C. Gilmore, H. K. Slay- 
ton, and C. E. Staniels. 

Records of previous meetings were read and ap- 
proved. 

On motion of H. K. Slay ton, the proceedings of the 
meeting held May 13, 1890, were approved and con- 
firmed. 

Applications for membership were received from the 
following named persons, all of which were approved 
and the applicants were by vote admitted as members of 
the society. 

George N. Eastman, Josiah C. Eastman, and Dixi 
Crosby. 

Discussion was held regarding a field day. Most of 
those present favored a field day at Bunker Hill. 

On motion of J. W. Patterson, the meeting was ad- 
journed to meet at the Senate chamber at 11 o'clock 
a. m., June 17, 1890. 

A true record, attest, 

Harry P. Hammond, 

Secretary of Board of Managers. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 21 

MEETING OF BOARD OF MANAGERS, JUNE 17, 1890. 

The meeting was called to order at 11 o'clock a. m., at 
the Senate chamber, State House, with the President, 
C. R. Morrison, in the chair. 

The application of Mrs. Rosalie Hammond Porter 
was approved and she was by vote admitted as a mem- 
ber of the society. 

Voted that Howard F. Hill and A. L. Meserve shall 
become members of this society upon presentation of 
applications made out in proper form. 

The report of the President, Charles R. Morrison, 
was read, and on motion the meeting adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Harry P. Hammond, 

Secretary of Board of Managers. 



SECOND ANNUAL MEETING, 1890. 

June 17, 1890. 

The society met in the Senate chamber, in the State 
House, at 11 o'clock a. m., the President, Hon. C. R. 
Morrison, in the chair. 

On invitation of the President, prayer was offered by 
Rev. C. L. Tappan. 

The President's report being read, it was voted to 
print it in the papers. 

[It was not printed. — Ed.] 

J. M. Hill presented the following resolution of 
sympathy with the Secretary, Isaac W. Hammond, 
which was passed unanimously : 

Resolved, that we have received with great sorrow, a knowledge of 
the long continued and critical illness of our associate, Isaac W. 
Hammond, Secretary of this association, and at this time we desire 



22 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

to record our appreciation, not only of his eminently able and faith- 
ful service in our own behalf and his untiring devotion to our in- 
terests, but also to his great research and portrayal of all matters per- 
taining to every branch of the state's early history. 

On motion of G. C. Gilmore, C. L. Tappan was 
elected Secretary and Treasurer. 

The records of the last meeting were read and ap- 
proved. 

The Treasurer's report was given by H. P. Ham- 
mond, and Messrs. Hill and Slayton were appointed 
auditors on Treasurer's account, who reported the 
account to be correct. The report was received and 
adopted. 

TREASURER'S REPORT 
For Year Ending June 17, 1890. 

Receipts. 

From Dr. Edward Aiken ...... 

eleven new members ..... 

thirteen new members ..... 

H. F. Newell, second year's fee 

Total $51.00 

Expenditures. 

For postage ......... $2.00 

printing (Ira C. Evans) ...... 4.50 

supplies ......... 4-°5 



$26 


.00 


II 


.00 


13 


.00 


I 


.00 



Total $10.55 

Balance on hand . . . . . . . .40.45 



The report of the committee on Bunker Hill was re- 
ceived as a report of progress, and recommitted for 
further consideration. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 23 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON NEW HAMPSHIRE AT 
BUNKER HILL. 

Your committee have been able, in the time which they could de- 
vote to it, to prepare from the confused and contradictory mass of 
material at their command, only a preliminary report to present to 
this meeting. 

The unsettled and confused state of civil affairs and the unorgan- 
ized condition of the colonial forces at that time render it next to 
impossible to determine with certainty the historic facts connected 
with the battle of Bunker Hill. But enough is known absolutely to 
make it obvious that there has been an ungenerous and labored effort 
in certain quarters to misrepresent and belittle the part played in the 
battle by New Hampshire men who had rushed to the rescue of a 
neighboring state in her hour of peril. It is not the part of brave 
and honorable men, however jealous of the glory of their state, to 
attempt to exalt its fame by appropriating the self-sacrifice and heroic 
deeds of another. The historic credit descending to each of the 
New England states from that memorable day will, in the end, be 
determined by established facts, not by suppressions, distortions, and 
fabrications. 

The news of the bloody encounter at Lexington was borne by 
swift riders into the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New- 
Hampshire, and patriotic citizens from all these states dropped their 
employments and, without organization, rushed to the help of their 
brethren in the vicinity of Boston where all was demoralization and 
confusion. Twelve hundred men went immediately from New Hamp- 
shire to the scene of danger and others joined them later. From this 
number two New Hampshire regiments were organized under Colonels 
Stark and Reed. These were temporarily mustered in as Massachu- 
setts regiments and Colonels Stark and Reed acted under the authority 
of the committee of safety of that state till New Hampshire should 
act. As New Hampshire had not yet acted 338 New Hampshire men 
enlisted in Massachusetts regiments as follows : 



Colonel Prescotfs 
" Bridge's 
" Frye's 
" Brewer's 
" Little's 



116 
1 

56 

7 

2 



24 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Colonel Nixon's ...... 74 

" Doolittle's 45 

" Ward's ..... 7 

" Whitcomb's ..... 1 

" Gridley's Artillery .... 29 

Total 338 

There were also 167 New Hampshire men in other Massachusetts 
regiments not in the fight on the heights of Charlestown. 

Colonel Stark's great popularity at home and the reputation which 
he had won in the French and Indian war for cool courage and uner- 
ring judgment enabled him to enlist in a few days a regiment of either 
fourteen or fifteen full companies. Judge Potter, in his history of 
Manchester, says fourteen. It will appear later that it was fifteen. 

In the report of the Adjutant-General of this state, [1866] , volume 2, 
page 264, it is said that the regiment, as organized, consisted of twelve 
companies, but that two of General Stark's were to be turned over to 
Colonel Reed. The Adjutant-General is speaking of the organization 
of the three New Hampshire regiments under Colonels Stark, Reed, 
and Poor; the two former, having ceased to acknowledge the military 
authority of Massachusetts, accepted that of the convention of New 
Hampshire which convened at Exeter in the month of May. 

On the third of June the Provincial Congress voted " that ten com- 
panies of the regiment, of sixty-two men each, now at Medford in the 
province of Massachusetts, be the first or oldest regiment.'" From 
this it is obvious that the Provincial Congress intended to cut down 
Stark's regiment to ten companies of sixty-two men each, and that 
two of his supernumerary companies should be transferred to Reed. 
Were they so transferred? 

General Folsom, writing to the committee of safety on the 23d of 
June, only six days after the battle, says, speaking of Colonel Stark's 
regiment, "It still consists of thirteen companies." Again, on the 
25th he writes, " He has three supernumerary companies, one of 
which very lately joined his regiment. Pray, your orders with respect 
to them." (See State Papers, volume 8, page 530.) In a letter of 
June 15 to the committee of safety at Exeter, Reed says, " Whitcomb 
and Thomas I took out of Stark's regiment for the two companies 
that were assigned me." (State Papers, page 418.) It seems therefore 
that the transfer was made. We seem therefore forced to the con- 
clusion that Colonel Stark had thirteen companies, (see page 529, 
volume 7, State Papers), in the battle of Bunker Hill. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 25 

I am aware that the pay-roll of this regiment gives us but ten com- 
panies, numbering with the officers 616 men, but I am also aware that 
when rations were issued to the regiment, fourteen days after the battle, 
it had thirteen companies and there were 794 men present. (See 
volume 14, State Papers, page 158.) Towne's, Scott's, and Stiles's 
companies do not appear on the pay-roll. One of these had lately 
joined. The others may have been the two companies, which Major 
Hobart, having money for only ten companies, could not pay and 
which led to an unpleasant controversy between him and Colonel 
Stark. The men of New Hampshire, who had been companions of 
Stark in former wars, and others attracted by his military fame, sought 
his leadership and crowded his regiment. 

We shall never know absolutely how many men Stark's regiment con- 
tained on the day of the battle till we can see the regimental return 
which, in a letter to the New Hampshire Congress of May 27, 1775, he 
says he had sent to the committee of safety. (State Papers, volume 7, 
page 488.) 

But in view of all the facts we are justified in claiming for him at 
least thirteen full companies or 806 men. Assuming that the sick and 
deserters of this regiment are in the same ratio to the whole number 
as in Reed's, we shall have left 701 as the number of Stark's men 
who participated in the conflict. This includes 200 men who were 
detailed from his regiment on the morning of the 17th, and placed by 
Prescott in or near Charlestown. 

From the returns of Colonel Reed's regiment made on the 
14th of June, 1775, we find he had 539 men fit for duty on that 
day. The original return rolls of Colonel Prescott give from no to 
120 New Hampshire men in his regiment, and we learn from the his- 
tory of Hollis, by Judge Worcester, that most, if not all, of these 
were in the fight on that memorable day. But that we may not over- 
state the number we will reduce it to 105. 

Colonel Gilmore, who has given much careful research to this sub- 
ject, has ascertained that there were 222 New Plampshire men in 
other Massachusetts regiments, which it is claimed were in the fight 
on the heights of Charlestown. Of this number we will assume that 
12 were on the sick list, and we shall have left 210. 

Now by adding these various numbers together we have : 

Stark's regiment . . . . . .701 

Reed's regiment ...... 539 

Prescott's regiment . . . . . .105 

Other regiments . . . . . .210 

Total 1,555 



26 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

We will next attempt to ascertain as nearly as possible the whole 
number of Americans engaged in the conflict. 

Much that has been written on this subject has been in the nature 
of special pleading, and designed to make out a case. Such writings 
are worthless for statistical purposes. 

All must allow that Colonel Prescott is the best possible authority 
on this subject. Turning to his letter written to Mr. Adams, August 
2 5> 1 775< we learn that he was ordered on the evening of the 
1 6th of June, to take a party of 1,000 men, consisting of 300 of 
his own regiment, Colonel Bridge and Lieutenant Bricket with a 
detachment of theirs, and 200 Connecticut men under Captain 
Knowlton, and throw up an intrenchment on the heights of Charles- 
town. Colonel Putnam accompanied them, and on reaching the 
heights there was a consultation of the officers as to whether the 
redoubt should be thrown up on Bunker's or Breed's hill. The latter 
exposed and dangerous height was finally selected through the influ- 
ence of Colonel Putnam who, after this patriotic achievement, rode 
back to Cambridge and enjoyed a good night's rest. Prescott and 
his men, in fact numbering only about 700, advanced to the hill 
designated. Colonel Gridley, the engineer, having marked out the 
redoubt, returned to Cambridge, but Prescott and his men worked 
silently on the defences from 12 o'clock till dawn, when the work was 
discovered and began to be shelled by the shipping, which had the 
hill in easy range. The men worked on under this heavy fire till the 
redoubt was nearly completed. A breastwork a hundred yards in 
length, extending northeasterly from the redoubt was also laid out 
and partially completed. But the work had to be stopped, for the 
firing from the ships and Copp's Hill so unsettled the nerves of some 
of the field officers that they could render no farther aid, and the 
most of the men under their commands also deserted the party. 
Peter Brown, in a letter to his mother, says, " 700 of us left, not 
deserted, besides 500 reinforcements." This clearly was an exaggera- 
tion, but whatever the number which deserted, Colonel Prescott was 
left with only 300. The men were tired and hungry, and began to 
complain that they had been sacrificed by treachery. Prescott 
struggled heroically against danger and discontent, and after repeated 
calls for help got a detail of 200 from the regiment of Colonel Stark. 
General Ward seems to have been entirely helpless on the day of the 
battle, either through fear of an attack upon Cambridge or the demor- 
alization of his forces. But Stark, cool and thoughtful, was early 
upon the hill, and his experienced eye took in at a glance the whole 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 27 

situation. Turning his horse he rode back with all haste to Medford, 
called out his regiment and distributed to them a part of the ammu- 
nition which Sullivan and Langdon had taken from Fort William and 
Mary, and which Deacon Demerit had brought to Cambridge on a 
cart after the battle of Lexington. 

At 2 o'clock the order which he had been expecting came for his 
and Reed's regiments to go to the help of Prescott. These two 
regiments moved forward steadily but deliberately to their destina- 
tion. During the march Captain Dearborn, afterward so celebrated 
in the civil and military history of the country, ventured to suggest 
that they should move faster. Stark replied, "Dearborn, one 
fresh man in action is worth ten fatigued ones." On reaching the 
Neck, which was raked by the guns of the enemy, he found General 
Putnam swearing at his men, who refused to pass. The brave Major 
McClary, who fell in the fight, called out, " Gentlemen, move 
forward, or open and let us pass." They opened, and our men 
moved forward to their places on the left of Captain Knowlton who, 
with 1 20 Connecticut men, had been ordered to defend the breast- 
work which had been thrown up northeast from the redoubt. The 
New Hampshire regiments built a double rail fence and stuffed it 
with new-mown hay. Between the rail fence and the river Stark's 
men threw up a stone wall. Behind this fence and wall our soldiers 
fought with unequalled coolness and courage during the battle. 

When it was seen that the royal forces were landing upon the 
peninsula, Prescott detached Captain Knowlton and his 120 men, 
and Captain Callender with two field pieces, to go and oppose them. 
Callender " went home to Cambridge fast as he could," but Captain 
Knowlton and his men, with the two field pieces, retreated to Bunker 
Hill, where Putnam was engaged in throwing up intrenchments. 
Later in the day they were sent back to the rail fence, being posted 
to the right of Reed, where they fought bravely to the last. Later 
in the day, when Prescott saw that the enemy intended to out- 
flank him on the left by the way of the Mystic, he sent Lieutenant- 
Colonel Robinson and Major Wood, with a small body of men, to 
harass their flanks. 

Prescott's forces having been weakened by this and the detachment 
sent out under Knowlton and Callender, and also by the cowardly 
desertions of the morning, and by those drawn off by Colonel Put- 
nam on the pretense of saving the intrenching tools, was left, as he 
writes to Adams, with only 150 men in the redoubt. But with that 
handful the hero fought till his ammunition was gone, and he was 
forced from his defences by overwhelming numbers. 



28 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

As the British advanced, Colonel Stark took a stick and drove it into 
the ground about eight rods in front of the wall. " There, 11 he said, 
" don't a man fire till the red coats come up to that stick ; if he does 
I will knock him down. 11 The enemy advanced steadily to the spot, 
when at the word of command the New Hampshire hunters gave 
them a volley so quick and deadly that they broke and fled in dismay. 
Rallied and reinforced they advanced a second time. " Don't fire a 
gun, boys, till you see the whites of their eyes and I say fire," cried 
Stark. "Fire low; aim at their waistbands, 11 rang out the clear 
voice of McClary. Again the ranks of the best soldiers of England 
were shattered and fled to the rear. A third time the onset of the 
enemy was repulsed, and it was not till the redoubt was carried and 
its brave defenders were driven to retreat, that the "unorganized 1 ' 
men from New Hampshire moved back from the rail fence, and, held 
to their ranks by the sublime courage of Reed and the iron will of 
Stark, covered the retreat of that handful of Massachusetts heroes 
with the steadiness of disciplined troops. The number of Ameri- 
cans engaged in the battle has been variously estimated. As Froth- 
ingham says, in his Siege of Boston, "The number of troops 
engaged on either side cannot be precisely ascertained. General 
Washington puts the number at 1,500. Doctor Gordon adopts the 
same. Mr. Derby puts it at 1,985, General Putnam at 2,200, and 
Colonel Swett at 3,500." 

Setting aside the reinforcements who had skulked on Bunker's Hill 
in the vain pretense of throwing up intrenchments, and who had 
refused to give help or to send ammunition to those struggling and 
dying in the furnace of battle at the front, some of whom doubtless 
met their retribution on the retreat, and regarding only those who 
participated in the fight, it has seemed to me that the number cannot 
fairlv be set down at more than 1,700. Of this number, if our cal- 
culations have been correct, 1,555 were sons of New Hampshire. 

There were 1,200 or 1,500 unarmed citizens and military cowards 
witnessing the slaughter from Bunker's Hill, but if there were more 
than 1,700 in the battle, who were they and where were they? 

It has been claimed that the small number of New Hampshire men 
who fell in the fight, compared with those of Massachusetts, indicates 
the relative forces of the two states in the engagement. But such reason- 
ing is delusive. Not only were the New Hampshire troops protected 
by their defences, but their firing was so accurate and deadly that the 
enemy were driven back before they could do much execution. Be- 
sides, we are told by eye-witnesses, that the principal slaughter 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 29 

occurred on the right, after the redoubt was taken, while our men 
were mostly on the left covering the retreat. Many of the skulkers, 
too, were killed in the retreat, and the New Hampshire men were not 
of that company. 

We would not pluck a beam from the real glory of Massachusetts, 
but we think it high time to assert and vindicate the honor of our 
own state in the great battle of Bunker Hill, which, though a defeat, 
was pregnant with future victories. 

The following resolution of Henry O. Kent of Lan- 
caster was moved by H. K. Slay ton of Manchester, 
and passed unanimously : 

Whereas, the preeminent services of Maj. Gen. John Stark dur- 
ing the colonial and Revolutionary periods have at last received 
recognition through the instrumentality of this society by vote of the 
legislature for erecting his statue in the State House yard ; be it 

Resolved, by this New Hampshire Association of the Sons of the 
Revolution, that kindred recognition by federal authority is necessary 
and proper to indicate the incalculable value of the services of 
General Stark in creating and securing the independence of the 
states, and in establishing the federal union ; and to that end we 
respectfully urge upon Congress the passage of the Senate bill provid- 
ing for an equestrian statue in the city of Manchester, set in proper 
and convenient grounds, to commemorate his life and services in 
behalf of the nation. 

Voted that the President and Secretary forward copies 
to the New Hampshire senators and representatives in 
Congress as a petition to Congress. 
Adjourned to 1.30 p. m. 

Society met according to adjournment at 1.30, G. C. 
Gilmore in the chair. 

On motion of C. R. Morrison, voted to amend 
Article 2 by adding at the close the following : 

" The Board of Management may admit to honorary 
" membership in this society persons in full sympathy 
" with it, though not descended from such an ancestor ; 
f* honorary members to pay the same as others, but with 
*' no right to vote." 



30 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

On motion of W. W. Bailey, voted to amend Section 
5 by adding the words, " and have the power to fill all 
" vacancies." 

On motion of C. R. Morrison, voted to amend Article 
3 bv adding the words, " five members to constitute a 
" quorum, but when less than five members are present 
"at a meeting of the board duly called, the vote of 
" three members for any measure shall be sufficient." 

Voted to amend Article 3 by the words, " and a 
"Vice-President acting as President shall have full 
" powers." 

Voted to amend Article 3 by the words, " there shall 
"be a finance committee of three members." 

Voted, on motion of J. M. Hill, to amend Section 4 
by adding the words, " and in addition thereto each 
"member shall be notified by the Secretary by the 
" issuance of printed postal cards." 

Voted that the Board of Managers are hereby author- 
ized to provide a seal for the society, a form of 
certificate of membership, and such badge or badges as 
they may deem expedient. 

Amos Hadley of Concord was elected an honorary 
member. 

The application of Daniel Clark of Manchester for 
membership was, on motion of G. C. Gilmore, unani- 
mously approved by the Board of Managers. 

The following board of officers was elected for the 
ensuing year : 

President, C. R. Morrison of Concord. 
Vice-Presidents, G. C. Gilmore of Manchester, Mrs. 
Adelaide Cilley Waldron of Farmington, Mrs. Lydia 
Morrison Bennett of Alton, Henry Buzzell of Gilford, 
Edward F. Smyth of Tilton, Thomas Jefferson Weeks 
of Hopkinton, Moses French of Manchester, S}-lvester 
Dana of Concord, Daniel Clark of Manchester. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 31 

Secretary and Treasurer, C. L. Tappan, Concord. 

Board of Managers. 
The President and Secretary, ex officio. 

Hiram K. Slayton, Manchester. 

J. M. Hill, Concord. 

Charles E. Staniels, East Concord. 

Henry O. Kent, Lancaster. 

Joshua G. Hall, Dover. 

W. W. Bailey, Nashua. 

James W. Patterson, Hanover. 

Voted that when the society adjourns it do so as to 
time and place at the call of the President. 

Voted that the Secretary be directed to procure 
printed 500 copies of the constitution and board of 
officers, and send to each member copies. 

Voted that the Treasurer pay twenty dollars to Isaac 
W. Hammond for services as Secretary and Treasurer 
the past year. 

Voted to adjourn. 

A true record, attest, 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



Meeting of Board of Managers, July 8, 1890, in the 
judiciary room in the State House. 

C. R. Morrison, J. M. Hill, and C. L. Tappan being 
present. 

The meeting was called to order by the President at 
11 o'clock A. M. 

Voted to approve the applications of George F. Dan- 
forth of Rochester, N. Y., and James Mitchell of Man- 
chester. 



32 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Voted that C. R. Morrison attend to the matter of 
procuring a seal by consulting with Mr. Herrick of 
Manchester. 

Voted to adjourn one week, to meet in same place. 
A true record, attest, 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



Meeting of Board of Managers, July 15, 1890, in the 
Council room in State House, C. R. Morrison, James W. 
Patterson, and C. L. Tappan being present. 

The meeting was called to order by the President at 
11 o'clock A. M. 
John Kimball of Concord was elected a member. 
Voted to adjourn one week. 
A true record, attest, 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



Meeting of Board of Managers, August 7, 1890, in 
the judiciary room in State House, James W. Patterson, 
John M. Hill, Charles E. Staniels, George C. Gilmore, 
Charles L. Tappan, Amos Hadley, and C. R. Morri- 
son being present. 

Meeting was called to order at 3 o'clock, by the Pres- 
ident. 

Voted to adopt the language of the certificate and 
make the form of the same twelve inches laterally by 
ten inches perpendicularly. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE 
Society of the Sons of the Revolution. 

This certifies that has been duly admitted 

a member of this society in right of proved military services rendered 
in the Revolutionary war by his ancestors, 

and who thereby aided in achieving the independ- 
ence of the United States. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 33 

In witness whereof the signatures of its President and Secretary, 
and the corporate seal, are affixed. 

Dated at Concord this day of , in the year of our 

Lord one thousand eight hundred and , and of the inde- 

pendence of the LInited States the one hundred and 

Voted that the certificate be surmounted with a cut 
of a spread eagle ; upon the right side, a cut of the Pro- 
file Mountain ; upon the left side, a cut of Echo Lake, 
etc. ; on the left, bottom, the society seal. 

Voted that John M. Hill and Edward A. Jenks be 
appointed to employ Mr. Herrick to furnish cuts in con- 
formity with the votes already passed ; and also to de- 
termine and provide cut or cuts for seal or seals ; and 
also to procure the printing of certificates according to 
the judgment of said committee. 

The applications for membership of Eben Otis Gar- 
land of Bartlett, Mrs. Adelaide C. Hayes Granger, 
147 E. 39 St., New York, N. Y., and Eugene O. Locke 
of Key West, Fla., were approved, and the same were 
declared members. 

Adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



Meeting of the Board of Managers, August 28, 1890, 
in the judiciary room in the State House. The follow- 
ing members were present, viz., J. W. Patterson, J. M. 
Hill, C. E. Staniels, C. R. Morrison, C. L. Tappan, 
and Amos Hadle}'. 

The meeting was called to order by the President at 
11 o'clock A. M. 

The applications for membership of the following 
persons were approved : 



34 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



Mrs. Martha A. Safford, Farmington. 

Sumner Adams Dow, Concord. 

Amos Hadley, 

Mrs. Mary Fitch Adams, 

Mrs. Susan Fitch Morrison, 

Albert Webster, 

David Webster, 

Edson C. Eastman, 

Samuel C. Eastman, 

Reuben E. Walker, 

Henry H. Metcalf, 

Hamilton Hutchins, 

David Cross, honorary member, Manchester 

Allen Eastman Cross, 

Miss Elizabeth Page Blodgett Stark, 

Joseph Kidder, 

Augustus H. Stark, 

Mrs. Angeline Ford Hall, 

The following were approved as honorary members, 
on account of their marital relationship with direct de- 
scendants of Gen. John Stark : 

Mrs. Sarah E. (Smith) Kidder, wife of Joseph Kid- 
der, Manchester. 

Mrs. Fanny Kidder, wife of John S. Kidder, Man- 
chester. 

Mrs. Edith (Furbish) Stark, wife of Augustus H. 
Stark, Manchester. 

Voted to adjourn to 4 130 o'clock p. m., Monday next, 
September 1, to meet in J. W. Patterson's room. State 
House. 



September 1. Board of Managers met according to 
adjournment, C. R. Morrison and C. L. Tappan being 
present. Adjourned to to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock, 
to meet in same place. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 85 

September 2. Board of Managers met according to 
adjournment, C. R. Morrison, W. W. Bailey, and C. L. 
Tappan being present. 

Approved the applications of 

Nathan Franklin Carter, Concord. 

Austin T. Fitch, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Adjourned till to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock. 



September 3. Board met according to adjournment, 
C. R. Morrison, J. W. Patterson, C. L. Tappan were 
present. 

The President in the chair. 

The applications for membership of 

Jeremiah Smith, Dover, 

Samuel Folsom Patterson, Concord, 

Joab Nelson Patterson, Concord, 

John F. Stark, Nashua, 

Mrs. Carrie Ban* Stark, wife of John F.Stark, Nashua, 

were approved, the last as honorary member. 
Adjourned to to-morrow morning, 9 o'clock. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



September 4, 1890. Meeting of the Board of Man- 
agers at 9 o'clock a. m., in State House, in J. W. Pat- 
terson's office. 

Present, J. W. Patterson, C. R. Morrison, and C. L. 
Tappan. 

President in the chair. 



36 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The applications for membership of 

Robert L. Shirley, Manchester, 

Edwin C. Shirley, Manchester, 

were approved. 

Adjourned to to-morrow morning at same place and 

time. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



September 5, 1890. Board of Managers met accord- 
ing to adjournment at 9 o'clock a. m., in J. W. Patter- 
son's office, State House. 

Present, J. W. Patterson, C. R. Morrison, and C. L. 
Tappan. 

President in the chair. 

The application for membership of Eliphalet S. Nutter 
of Concord was approved. 

Adjourned to next Saturday week, September 13, at 

9 o'clock a. m. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



September 13, 1890. Board of Managers met accord- 
ing to adjournment in room No. 1, State House, at 9 
o'clock A. M. 

Present, John M. Hill, C. R. Morrison, Hiram K. 
Slayton, and C. L. Tappan. 

President in the chair. 

Applications for membership of 

Clinton Albert Cilley , Hickory, N. C. , 

J. Frank Hoit, Concord, 

Robert Morrison Dow, Littleton, 

John Chamberlin Ordway, Concord, 

were approved. 

Adjourned. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 37 

October 7, 1890. Board of Managers met at room 
No. 1, State House, at the call of the President; not 
being able to enter, adjourned to J. W. Patterson's office. 

Present, John M. Hill, C. R. Morrison, C. E. Stan- 
iels, and C. L. Tappan. 

President in the chair. 

Applications for membership of 

Mrs. Sara J. Hammond, Concord, 

William H. Straw, Epsom, 

were approved. 

Adjourned to meet next Monday at 4 o'clock p. m., 
October 13. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



October 13, 1890. Board of Managers met according 
to adjournment at 4 o'clock p. m., in J. W. Patterson's 
office, State House. 

Present, John M. Hill, C. R. Morrison, and C. L. 
Tappan, the President in the chair. 

H. W. Herrick's bill was approved, and the Treas- 
urer directed to pay it. 

Voted that the Secretary be directed to publish and 
send notices for a meeting of the society at the Senate 
chamber at the State House, October 23, 1890, at 10 : 30 
in the forenoon, to respond to the invitation of the 
Governor and Council which has been given to the 
society to be present as guests of the state, to participate 
in the ceremonies of the unveiling of the Stark statue, 
and in the banquet which is to follow. 

Approved Henry W. Herrick, Manchester, as hon- 
orary member. 

Voted to adjourn without date. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary \ 



38 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

October 23, 1890. The society met, according to the 
call of the Secretary, in the Senate chamber, State 
House, at 10:30 o'clock a. m., the President in the 
chair. 

Applications for membership of 

Marshall P. Hall, Manchester, 

Elbridge P. Heath, Nashua, 

Charles Robert Corning, Concord, 

Mrs. Sophia B. Merrill, Concord, 

were approved. 

The invitation of the state to participate in the exer- 
cises of unveiling the statue of Gen. John Stark, and in 
the banquet following, was accepted, and Charles E. 
Staniels was elected marshal. 

The whole matter of the certificates of membership 
was, by vote, referred to the Board of Managers with 
full powers. 



December 2, 1890. Board of Managers met accord- 
ing to call of the President, in ante-room of Grand 
Army hall, at 3 o'clock p. m. 

The President in the chair. 

Present, William W. Bailey, John M. Hill, Henry O. 
Kent, Charles E. Staniels, Charles R. Morrison, 
Charles L. Tappan. 

Voted that the Treasurer pay the Republican Press 
Association bill of $7.25 for badges (October 23). 

The following applications for membership were ap- 
proved : 

Joseph Pinkham, Newmarket. 

James B. Edgerly, Farmington. 

Joseph Barnard, Hopkinton. 

Cassander Cary Sampson, Tilton. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 39 

The President objected to the certificates of member- 
ship, on various grounds, as prepared by the committee 
appointed for the purpose. 

After a full discussion by J. M. Hill, the committee, 
and C. R. Morrison, the President, it was voted, on 
motion of C. L. Tappan, seconded by W. W. Bailey, 
to accept the work of the committee, that is, the certifi- 
cates as printed. 

The votes in the affirmative were, William W. Bailey, 
Henry O. Kent, Charles E. Staniels, Charles L. Tap- 
pan. 

The vote in the negative was, Charles R. Morrison, 
the President. John M. Hill of course did not vote. 

As soon as the President declared the result of the 
vote, he resigned the presidency, to take effect at once. 
He declared his resignation to be final. 

To the Board of Managers of the New Hampshire 
Society of the Sons of the Revolution, 

I hereby resign the office of President of said society. 

Concord, December 2, 1890. C. R. Morrison. 

John M. Hill was chosen President, pro tern. 
Adjourned. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



March 13, 1891. The Board of Managers of the 
New Hampshire Sons of the Revolution, by special call 
of the Secretary, met in the state library. 

Vice-President, George C. Gilmore, in the chair. 

Present, G. C. Gilmore, H. K. Slayton, J. M. Hill, 
W. W. Bailey, J. W. Patterson, and C. L. Tappan. 

On motion, it was voted unanimously to accept the 
resignation of Charles R. Morrison as President. 



40 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

On motion, George C. Gilmore was elected Presi- 
dent. 

On motion, George C. Gilmore, John M. Hill, and 
Hiram K. Slayton were appointed a committee on Ben- 
nington celebration, with full powers. 

On motion, George C. Gilmore, John M. Hill, and 
Charles L. Tappan were appointed a committee on cer- 
tificates. 

On motion, George C. Gilmore and Hiram K. Slay- 
ton were appointed a committee on union with the Na- 
tional Society. 

John M. Hill was appointed auditor. 

Applications for membership of Mrs. Elmira J. Shat- 
tuck Crosby of Milford and Chester B. Jordan of Lan- 
caster were approved. 

Mrs. Edna A. Cochran and two daughters were ap- 
proved on condition that they file with the Secretary the 
usual applications. 

(Did not file application. ) 

Voted to adjourn. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



March 17, 1891. Committee on certificates, G. C. 
Gilmore, J. M. Hill, and C. L. Tappan, met at the 
New Hampshire Historical Society library. After talk- 
ing the matter over, it was voted to adjourn to Tuesday, 
March 24, 1891, at 2 o'clock, to the office of Edward 
Jenks, when and where it was determined to reprint the 
certificates, with large seal in red, and on better paper 
than before. 

C. L. Tappan, Secretary. 



li, 



% 







\ 



George C. Giemore. 
1891-93. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 41 

THIRD ANNUAL MEETING, 1891. 

The third annual meeting of the New Hampshire 
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution was held 
in the Senate chamber in the State House in Concord, 
June 17, 1891, at 11 o'clock a. m., the President, 
George C. Gilmore, in the chair. 

The President welcomed the members present. 

Rev. C. L. Tappan offered prayer. 

The following, being approved by the Board of Man- 
agers, were received by the society as members : 

Mrs. Elmira J.(Shattuck) Crosby, Milford. 
Chester B. Jordan, Lancaster. 

Benjamin Evans Badger, Concord. 

Eben Ferren, Manchester. 

William Davis Sawyer, Dover. 

Solon S. Wilkinson, Keene. 

Clarkson Dearborn, Concord. 

Capt. John Milton Thompson, U. S. A., 

David's Island, N. Y. Harbor. 
Mrs. Sarah (Adams) Ordway, Concord. 
William Pickering Hill, " 

Isaac William Hill, " 

Mrs. Dora D. Davis, Tilton. 

Jabez Alexander, Manchester. 

The report of the Treasurer was read, accepted, and 
ordered to be placed on file. 

TREASURER'S REPORT 

For Yeah Ending June 17, 1891. 

CR. 

By bills of last year, printing, Ira C. Evans . . . $2.00 

I. VV. Hammond, services .... 20.00 

printing, Democratic Press Co. . . . .75 

" Republican Press Co. . . . 4.80 

$27-55 



42 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



By expense for petition to Congress 
printing manual, Ira C. Evans . 
postage and envelopes for the year . 
printing postal cards, Ira C. Evans . 
two blank books and ink . 
printing note-heads, envelopes, receipts 
H. W. Herrick's bill for seal, etc. . 
filling certificates, Miss Downing 
ribbon and printing, Republican Press Co 
125 mailing tubes, E. C. Eastman . 



By cash from Treasurer, I. VV. Hammond 
annual tax .... 
admission fees 



CR. 

$0.93 

17.00 

4.00 

.50 

•3° 
4.00 

37-3o 
2.00 
7.25 
1.80 





$102.63 


DR. 




?40-45 




4I.OO 




59.OO 






$140.45 





In the hands of the Treasurer, June 17, 189 1 . . $37.82 

Charles Langdon Tappan, Treasurer. 
Correct, John M. Hill, Auditor. 

Concord, N. H., June 17, 1891. 

Voted that it is expedient for this society to join the 
National Society of the Sons of the American Revolu- 
tion. 

Voted to insert the word "American" between the 
words "the" and "Revolution," in the articles of 
association. 

Voted that Article 1 of the constitution be amended 
so as to read as follows : 

The name of this organization shall be "The New 
Hampshire Society of the Sons of the American Revo- 
lution " ; and its objects shall be as stated in the articles 
of association. 

Voted that the President and Secretary communicate 
the proceedings of this meeting, relative to joining the 
National Society, to the National Society. 



• SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 43 

Voted that the matter of exercises at our next annual 
meeting, including an address and banquet, be referred 
to the Board of Managers, with full powers. 

Voted that the matter of the excursion of the 
society to Bennington, be left to the committee already 
appointed and the Board of Managers. Committee, 
George C. Gilmore, John M. Hill, and Hiram K. Slay- 
ton. 

Voted that the Secretary prepare and procure printed 
a manual similar to the one published last year, con- 
taining all the names and residences of the members, 
obituary notices of those who have " passed over," the 
constitution and by-laws, and send copies to all members. 
The following were elected officers for the ensuing 
year : 

PRESIDENT. 

George C. Gilmore, Manchester. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

John M'Clary Hill, Concord. 

William W. Bailey, Nashua. 

Jeremiah Smith, Dover. 

Edward F. Smyth, Tilton. 

Jabez Alexander, Manchester. 

Sylvester Dana, Concord. 

BOARD OF MANAGERS. 

The President and Secretary, ex officio. 

Hiram K. Slayton, Manchester. 

John Kimball, Concord. 

Charles E. Staniels, East Concord. 

Henry O. Kent, Lancaster. 

Howard L. Porter, Concord. 

William W. Bailey, Nashua. 

James W. Patterson, Hanover. 



44 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

George B. Chandler, Manchester. 

Joshua G. Hall, Dover. 

Thomas Cogswell, Gilmanton. 

HISTORIOGRAPHER. 

Fred Leighton, Concord. 

SECRETARY AND TREASURER. 

Charles Langdon Tappan, Concord. 

Voted that each member of one year's standing, be 
assessed one dollar for the year ending June 17, 1892. 
Voted to adjourn to meet at the call of the President. 



[A meeting of the Board of Managers appears to 
have been held August 4, 1891, at which 

Mrs. Pernal Clark Wight, Boston, 

Mrs. Sarah Matilda Childs, Concord, 

Miss Eleanor Gamble, Manchester, 

Mrs. Mary A. K. Tucker, Canaan, 

were admitted to membership. — Ed.] 



Concord, April 20, 1892. 

The Board of Managers met according to notice, in 
the office of the New Hampshire Historical Society, at 
11 o'clock A. M. 

President Gilmore in the chair. 

Present, George C. Gilmore, William W. Bailey, 
Charles E. Staniels, Charles L. Tappan. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



45 



By unanimous vote 

Henry A. Cutter, Nashua, 

William B. Fellows, Tilton, 

Enoch Gerrish, Concord, 
Mrs. Maria Louise (Sherburne) Gove, Concord, 

Charles B. Grisvvold, Woodsville, 

William Rand, Rochester, 

George Hamilton Rolfe, Concord, 

Robert Henry Rolfe, Concord, 

Ezra S. Stearns, Rindge, 
were approved as members. 

George C. Gilmore, 
John M. Hill. 

John Kimball, alternate, Howard L. Porter, 
John C. Ordway, alternate, Fred Leighton, 
William W. Bailey, alternate, John F. Stark, 
were chosen unanimously delegates to the meeting of 
the National Society to be held in New York, April 30, 
1892. 

Voted to adjourn at the call of the President. 



BENNINGTON PARTY. 

August 18-19-20, 1891. 

MEMBERS OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



i. John Ballard, 

2. Reuben C. Danforth, 

3. Sumner A. Dow, 

4. David Webster, 

5. George C. Gilmore, 

6. James Mitchell, 

7. Orlando Bowman, 

8. John C. Ordway, 

9. Augustus H. Stark, 



Concord. 



Manchester. 
Manchester. 
Cambridgeport, Mass. 
Concord. 
Manchester. 



46 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

10. Edith (Furbish) Stark, Manchester. 

ii. Elizabeth Page Blodgett Stark, " 

12. Eleanor Gamble, " 

13. Charles E. Staniels, Concord. 

14. Mabel R. Staniels, Concord. 

[Miss Staniels was not a member, but a guest. — Ed.] 

15. John Kimball, Concord. 

16. Josiah C. Eastman, Hampstead. 

17. Charles L. Tappan, Concord. 

18. Hiram K. Slayton, Manchester. 

19. Clarkson Dearborn, Concord. 

NOT MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY, BUT GUESTS. 

i. Charles Nutting, Concord. 

2. Herbert B. Titus, New York. 

3. Joseph Rowell, Manchester. 

4. Alvin B. Burleigh, Plymouth. 

5. D. Paul Burleigh, Plymouth. 

6. Jennie A. Osborne, Manchester. 

7- 

8. John C. Linehan, Penacook. 

9. Rev. R. C. Drisko, East Derry. 

10. H. W. Forbush, Philadelphia, Pa. 



FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING, 1892. 

The fourth annual meeting of the New Hampshire 
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution was 
held in the Senate chamber in Concord to-day, the 
17th of June, 1892. 

The President in the chair, who called the meeting to 
order at 11 : 15 o'clock, and asked Rev. C. L. Tappan 
to offer prayer. 

The report of the Secretary showed that thirty-two 
new members had been admitted during the year, mak- 
ing the total membership 175. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



47 



The report of the Treasurer showed that the receipts 
during the year were $131.82; that the expenses, in- 
cluding $46.35 paid on last year's account, were $87.35. 
Balance on hand, $44.47. 

Report accepted. 



TREASURER'S REPORT 

For Year Ending June 17, 1892. 

June 17, 1891. To J. B. Clarke's old bill for printing 

25 printing certificates, etc. (Monitor) 

July 6 exchanging rolls 

7 50 postals printed (Monitor) 

7 postage on certificates 

9 postage stamps . 

14 mucilage .... 

17 engrossing certificates 

22 rubber bands . 

3° printing signatures on certificate 

Aug. 5 150 paper stamps 

6 200 circulars printed 

Nov. 2 express on application blanks 

4 postage stamps (50) 

Apr. 29, 1892. postage stamps (50) 

29 envelopes (2) . 

J un e 6 ad. annual meeting (Dem. Press Co.) 

6 175 postals printed (Monitor) 

6 25 postals 

7 engrossing certificates 
1 7 Secretary and Treasurer for services 

June 17, 1 89 1. By cash from last year . . $37.82 

1_7. 1892. " taxes . . 62.00 

" admittance fees . 32.00 



$1.10 

40.25 

.20 

1 .00 

•25 
4.50 

.10 
5.00 

.25 

.65 
1.50 
1.25 
1. 10 
1 .00 
1 .00 

.20 
2.00 
2.75 

.25 

3.00 

20.00 

$87.35 



$131-8: 



Balance, cash on hand ...... $44.47 

Audited June 17, 1892, amount found as certified above. 

John M. Hill. 



48 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

President Gilmore presented the report of the delega- 
tion to Bennington, August 19, 1891. 

W. W. Bailey gave the results of the annual meeting 
of the National Society, held in New York in April. 

On motion of W. W. Bailey, it was voted to amend 
the constitution by providing for the election of an his- 
toriographer. 

On motion of W. W. Bailey, the by-laws were 
amended by striking out " 17th of June," as the date of 
the annual meeting, and inserting in place thereof the 
words, "second Wednesday of April." 

On motion, the chair appointed a committee of three 
to nominate officers for the ensuing year, consisting of 
John M. Hill, Fred Leighton, and W. W. Bailey. 

Subsequently the committee reported the following : 

FOR PRESIDENT. 

George C. Gilmore, Manchester. 

FOR VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

John M. Hill, Concord. 

W. W. Bailey, Nashua. 

E. F. Smyth, Tilton. 

Jabez Alexander, Manchester. 

Sylvester Dana, Concord. 

Jeremiah Smith, Dover. 

FOR BOARD OF MANAGERS. 

The President and Secretary, ex officio. 

Hiram K. Slayton, Manchester. 

John Kimball, Concord. 

Charles E. Staniels, Concord. 

Henry O. Kent, Lancaster. 

Howard L. Porter, Concord. 

W. W. Bailey, Nashua. 

James W. Patterson, Hanover. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 49 

FOR FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

George Byron Chandler, Manchester. 

Joshua G. Hall, Dover. 

Thomas Cogswell, Gilmanton. 

FOR SECRETARY AND TREASURER. 

Charles Langdon Tappan, Concord. 

FOR HISTORIOGRAPHER. 

Fred Leighton, Concord. 

The above were unanimously elected officers of the 
society for the ensuing year. 

On motion of W. W. Bailey it was voted that the 
Secretary prepare and procure printed four hundred 
copies of a manual, similar to the one published two 
years ago, containing the constitution and by-laws, and 
the roll of officers and members and their residences, 
obituaries of those who have "passed over," and send 
copies to all the members. 

On motion it was voted to pay the Secretary and 
Treasurer twenty dollars for his services the past year. 

On recommendation of the Board of Managers, the 
following were elected members of the society: 

Howard Malcom Cook, Concord. 

Henry Putney Danforth, Lawrence, Mass. 

Miss Adelaide S. Hill, Concord. 

Mrs. Clara W. Hill, Concord. 

Edward R. Hutchins, Des Moines, la. 

Charles Byron Spofford, Claremont. 
Mrs. Lena Gertrude (Rice) Wilson, Concord. 



50 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

MEMBERS WHO HAVE DIED. 

Edward Aiken, August 14, 1890. 

Isaac W. Hammond, September 28, 1890. 

Henry M. Fuller, November 14, 1890. 

John Hosley, March 24, 1890. 

George W. Nesmith, 

Robert M. Dow, November, 1890. 

Daniel Clark, January 2, 1891. 

Albert J. Nay, June 25, 1891. 

Abraham Emerson, October 18, 1S91. 

James Mitchell, December 4, 1891. 

Thomas Jefferson Weeks, February 1, 1892. 

On motion the society adjourned at 12 : 30 p. m. 



FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING, 1893. 

The fifth annual meeting of the New Hampshire 
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution was 
held in the Senate chamber, Wednesday, April 12, 
1893, at 11 o'clock in the forenoon. 

The President, George C. Gilmore, in the chair. 

John M. Hill, from the Board of Managers, reported 
the following candidates as approved for membership : 

William T. Bailey, Nashua, 

Augustus H. Bixby. Francestown, 

Roger E. Foster, Concord, 

William H. Foster, Concord, 

Charles H. Glidden, Somerville,Mass., 

George Judkins, Claremont, 

Mrs. Mary E. Alden Judkins, Claremont, 

Levi Alden Judkins, Boston, Mass., 

Capt. James Miller, U. S. A., Concord, 

Howard S. Robbins, New York city, 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN DEVOLUTION. 



51 



Elijah Morrill Shaw, 
Leland A. Smith, 
Samuel H. Stearns, 
Mrs. Ruth B. Staniels, 
Miss Eva March Tappan, 



Nashua, 

Concord, 

Rindge, 

East Concord, 

Philadelphia, Pa., 



who, on motion, were elected by ballot members of the 
society. 

The report of the Treasurer was read and accepted, 
and on motion of John M. Hill, it was voted that the 
same be placed on file. 

TREASURER'S REPORT 

For the Year Ending April 12, 1893. 

Expenses. 



July 7, 1892. Postage stamps .... 


$2.00 


March 27, 1893. Postage stamps .... 


1. 00 


April 11 Printing 425 postal cards 


7-35 


1 1 Salary of Secretary and Treasurer . 


20.00 


Total expenses for the year 


• $30-35 


Receipts. 




For assessments ....... 


$42.00 


admission fees ....... 


6.00 


cash from last year ...... 


44-47 


Total receipts for the year .... 


. $92.47 


Total expenses for the year 


3Q-35 


Cash on hand April u, 1893 .... 


. $62.12 



On motion of W. W. Bailey, it was voted that the 
sum of twenty dollars be allowed C. L. Tappan, Secre- 
tary and Treasurer, for his services during the past 
year. 

A list of the members who have died during the year 
was read by the Secretary. 

W. W. Bailey of Nashua moved that a special com- 
mittee of three be appointed to consider the desirability of 



52 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

observing in some public manner the 17th of June, or 
some other day during the year, with an address, dinner, 
etc., and the chair appointed as such committee : 

William W. Bailey, Nashua. 

John M. Hill, Concord. 

John C. Ordway, Concord. 

A communication was presented from the National 
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, asking 
for delegates to national convention. 

Letters of regret for non-attendance were read from 
James Willis Patterson, and others. 

A committee of five was appointed to bring in a list 
of officers for the ensuing year, consisting of 

Henry H. Metcalf, Concord. 

Eben Ferren, Manchester. 

John W. Crosby, Milford. 

E. S. Shirley, GofTstown. 

John McClary Hill, Concord. 

Henry H. Metcalf, for the committee, reported the 
following list of officers for the ensuing year : 

PRESIDENT. 

Charles Eastman Staniels, East Concord. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

John McClary Hill, Concord. 

Joshua Oilman Hall, Dover. 

Edward F. Smyth, Tilton. 

Ebenezer Ferren, Manchester. 

William Lawrence Foster, Concord. 

Jeremiah Smith, Cambridge, Mass. 




Charles K. Staniels. 
1893-95. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 53 

SECRETARY AND TREASURER. 

Charles LangdonTappan, Concord. 

BOARD OF MANAGERS. 

President and Secretary, ex officio. 

George C. Gilmore, Manchester. 

John Kimball, Concord. 

Charles Byron Spofford, Claremont. 

Henry O. Kent, Lancaster. 

Howard L. Porter, Concord. 

William W. Bailey, Nashua. 

James Willis Patterson, Hanover. 

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. 

George Byron Chandler, Manchester. 

William Rand, Rochester. 

Allan H. Robinson, Concord. 

HISTORIOGRAPHER. 

Fred Leighton, Concord. 

The report was accepted and adopted by unanimous 
vote. 

William W. Bailey, for the special committee on the 
observance of the 17th of June, or some other day, 
reported as follows : 

The committee report that they recommend that at 
the next annual meeting of this association, the Hon. 
William Lawrence Foster be invited to deliver an 
address ; and that the Board of Managers be requested 
to make such arrangements for the delivery of a poem, 
and providing dinner at the same time, as they may 
deem expedient ; and further, that the Board of Mana- 
gers be requested to consider the expediency and manner 



54 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

of observing a field day at some future time at the 
burial place of Gen. John Stark, or some other Revolu- 
tionary hero. 

The report was accepted and adopted. 

On motion, voted that the selection of delegates to the 
national convention be left with the President and Sec- 
retary with full power to appoint. 

President Staniels in the chair. 

Remarks were made by Bradbury L. Cilley of Exe- 
ter, George C. Gilmore and Eben Ferren of Manches- 
ter, and William W. Bailey of Nashua. 

Adjourned to second Wednesday in April. 



MEMBERS WHO HAVE DIED DURING THE YEAR. 

George N. Eastman, Farmington. 

Charles R. Morrison, Concord. 

James Willis Patterson, Hanover. 

John W. Sturtevant, Keene. 

Albert Webster, Concord. 



By call of the President the Board of Managers met 
in the office of the New Hampshire Historical Society 
October 9, 1893, at 11 o'clock a. m. 

Present, C. E. Staniels, John Kimball, W. W. Bailey, 
Howard L. Porter, C. B. Spofford, and C. L. Tappan. 

No business was done. 



On call of the President, the Board of Managers met 
in the office of the New Hampshire Historical Society, 
October 25, 1893, at 11 o'clock a. m. 

Present, C. E. Staniels, W. W. Bailey, G. C. Gil- 
more, C. L. Tappan. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



55 



The applications for membership of Bradbury Cilley 
of Amherst, Mass., and Charles P. Griffin of South 
Danville, N. H., were approved. 

The following were appointed a committee : Charles 
E. Staniels, Howard L. Porter, W. W. Bailey. 

The President was instructed to correspond with the 
Secretary-General in regard to the examination of appli- 
cations, etc., bv the National Societv. 



SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING, 1894. 

Concord, N. H., April 11, 1894. 

The annual meeting of the New Hampshire Society 
of Sons of the American Revolution was held in the 
Senate chamber at the State House in Concord, on the 
above date, at n o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President, 
and the records of the last meeting were read and ap- 
proved. 

The report of the Treasurer was read and voted that 
it be accepted and placed on file. 



TREASURER'S REPORT 
For Year Ending April 1 1, 1894. 

Receipts. 



Cash from last year .... 


. $63.12 


C. E. Staniels 


.25 


Assessments for 1892-3 .... 


60.00 


1893-4 . 


93.00 


Admittance fees, 1893-4 .... 


26.00 


Assessments for 1894-5 .... 


12.00 



$254.37 



56 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



Expenses 

Postage stamps 

25 postals and printing 

Filling out certificates, C. E. Staniels 

4 days' labor, C. E. Staniels . 

50 mailing tubes 

200 envelopes 

200 half-note circulars, printing 

400 year books, printing 

Preparing year book for printing 

Cash to C. E. Staniels 

200 postals and printing, C. E. Staniels 

Postage and express, " " 

Secretary and Treasurer, service 

To be carried to next year 
All of which is respectfully submitted. 



$4.46 

•75 

4-75 

6.00 

1 .00 

•3° 

1.50 

19.00 

10.00 

60.00 

3.00 

5.25 

20.00 



$136.01 

$118.36 



C. L. Tappan, Treasurer. 

Concord, N. H., April n, 1894. 

At the request of the Treasurer of the Sons of the Revolution, I 
have this day examined his account of receipts and expenditures from 
April 12, 1893, to April 11, 1894, as Treasurer of said society, and 
find the annexed amount correct. 

B. E. Badger. 



Voted to proceed to the election of officers for the 
ensuing year. 

Voted that the President appoint a committee of five 
to nominate a list of officers for the ensuing year, and 
the President named George B. Chandler, W. W. Bai- 
ley, John M. Hill, Charles S. Parker, and John Kim- 
ball, who then retired. 

The President then laid before the meeting the course 
pursued by himself and the Board of Managers in join- 
ing the National Society, and also the matter of election 
of delegates to the national congress of the society to 
be held in Washington, D. C, April 30. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 57 

After some discussion the matter was laid on the 
table. 

At 12 o'clock, His Excellency John B. Smith and 
members of the honorable Council were introduced, and 
prayer was offered by Rev. Frank L. Phalen. 

Governor Smith then made a short address of wel- 
come and encouragement to the society. 

Rev. Allen E. Cross was then introduced and read an 
original poem commemorative of the deeds of valor per- 
formed by New Hampshire men in the Revolutionary 
war. 

In introducing his poem, Mr. Cross said : 

"It will perhaps give a little more definiteness to the 
verses that follow, to recall that one object of this 
society, in common with that of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution as expressed in the constitution of 
the latter, is this — 'to perpetuate the memory and the 
spirit of the men and women who achieved American 
independence by the acquisition and protection of his- 
torical spots and the erection of monuments.'" 

POEM. 

The sunlight touched the fabled harp 

With martial melodies, 
And with the light brave sounds were borne 

Upon the morning breeze. 

To hesitant souls its music came 

As ancient legends tell, 
And men grew strong to right the wrong, 

When they heard its music swell. 

To faltering hearts in hours of need 

When courage and manhood fled. 
It brought to each a spirit of life 

Like light to the eyes of the dead. 



58 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Its music was nerved as with patriot's life; 

In its tones their spirits spoke — 
Cowardice died like a guilty thing 
When this music of morn awoke. 

Warriors carried its strains in their hearts 
And heard, as they felt the blow 

Of the death-axe on their helmets ring, 
Its martyr music low. 

'Tis only a legend, and yet 'tis true — 

It is grandly true to me — 
That there's many a harp of memory 

In a land of the brave and free. 

There's a harp above each battlefield ; 

And over each hero's grave 
You can hear the music in your heart 

From the heart that the hero gave. 

Invisible music floats above 

The spots where men of old 
Battled for truth, in the face of death, 

Or love in the face of gold. 

Aye, strains of freedom are in the air, 
Where the Concord fight began, 

And every man by the Concord bridge 
Becomes a minute man. 

The rythm of battle is in his soul, 

And chords heroic fill 
The hearts of the sons of the patriots 

As they stand on Bunker Hill. 

In a distant, silent, country field, 

Out of my native town, 
In the common day, in the morning light 

I have seen the day go down — 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 59 

The river, the hills, and the sky dissolve — 

All signs of life decline, 
And only a monument's memory 

Remains in this heart of mine; 

And lingering yet by a hero's grave, 

Into my listening soul 
The music of long-gone days and deeds 

With, rapturous power would roll. 

It was but the fabled, invisible harp 

That over each hero's grave 
As there by the grave of General Stark 

Could make one's spirit brave. 

Ah ! yes, but a legend ! and yet the heart 

That has thrilled in Faneuil hall, 
By Washington's tomb, by the Cambridge elm, 

Loves that music better than all — 

Aye, better than all the glitter of wealth, 

Or the glamor of town and mart, 
This music that sounds o'er a patriot shrine 

And thrills each patriot's heart. 

And so to him it is dear and blest, 

For he holds it sacred ground, 
Where the strings of this harp of memory 

Can thrill him with their sound. 

And he vows, by the spell of the mystic harp 

And the rapture that it gave, 
To keep each patriot battle-ground 

And to guard each patriot's grave — 

Since he who guards a patriot's grave 

As a shrine inviolate 
Is guarding the hope of the Commonwealth 

And the life of a loyal state. 

President Staniels then read his annual address. 



60 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
Compatriots, Daughters of the Revolution, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The Pilgrims, arriving upon the shores of New England, first fell 
upon their knees and then fell upon the aborignes. 

In the early history of the colonies, the pastor, with his musket 
upon his shoulder, led the way to the block-house which served 
both as a sanctuary and a refuge in times of danger. 

In the pursuit of his duty he often punctuated his discourse by 
impinging a pewter bullet upon the sinciput of a skulking Indian, who 
was patiently waiting outside for the congregation to disperse. 

Butler's autobiography says : 

The towns of New Hampshire, being on the frontier and on the 
direct line between Massachusetts and Canada, were the scene of 
many a conflict in the French and Indian wars that were nearly con- 
tinuous for the first one hundred and twenty years after the settle- 
ment. This educated almost everybody to be a trained fighter; and 
a man rarely ever left his home, whether for the field or for church, 
without his musket, powder horn, and bullet-pouch. So that every one 
who can trace his lineage back to the early settlers of New Hamp- 
shire is born of fighting stock. 

We have much to be proud of in this, our New Hampshire. 

As early as May, 1775, New Hampshire recommended the assump- 
tion of independence, the first record in this country of organized 
effort in this direction. She was the first to frame any form of con- 
stitution, which, in temporary form, was adopted on January 5, 1776; 
and, on September 1 1 of the same year, the name was changed from 
"Colony" to "State. 1 ' 

While New York and Virginia were considering in convention the 
propriety of accepting the proposed Federal constitution, the New 
Hampshire convention, reassembling from an adjournment, on June 
21, 1788, upon a spot not a half mile from this platform, voted to 
accept the new constitution, having previously solemnly pledged their 
faith and honor that they would support the measure " with their 
lives and fortunes." 

This action of New Hampshire, in casting the decisive vote, was 
hailed with delight by the whole country, and undoubtedly influenced 
favorable action in other states. Without Stark and Reed of New 
Hampshire to protect the entire left, and, later, to present an impene- 
trable barrier to the British after the last cartridge had been fired, 
the battle of Bunker Hill and its famous and well-ordered retreat 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 61 

would have been a rout and an absolute defeat. Col. George C. 
Gilmore of Manchester, formerly the President of this society, was 
appointed by Governor Sawyer, in 18S9, a special commissioner to 
confer with a special committee of the Boston city council in regard 
to New Hampshire men killed or wounded at Bunker Hill, whose 
names were to be inscribed upon bronze tablets, with those of ?.Iassa- 
chusetts, to perpetuate their memory. 

Colonel Gilmore has done more than any other man to correct his- 
torical data of the action at Bunker Hill, and reported to his state 
that, of the troops on duty and participating in that battle, 1,441 
were of New Hampshire in the regiments of Stark and Reed, and 210 
in Massachusetts regiments, a total of 1,651, a larger proportion than 
any other state furnished; there were also 317 in Massachusetts regi- 
ments elsewhere at that time. At Bennington, the Gettysburg of the 
Revolution, seventy-three percent of Stark*s troops were New Hamp- 
shire men, 165 of these having fought with him at Bunker Hill. 

Here General Stark acted independently for New Hampshire, op- 
posing the threatened invasion of Burgoyne, and at a critical period 
turned the tide which culminated with the surrender of Cornwallis. 

No armed foe has ever pressed the soil of New Hampshire, but her 
sons fought from Bunker Hill to Yorktown with a courage and en- 
durance which won the respect of their foes and the commendation of 
the commander-in-chief. Associated in their early experience with 
defeat and gloom, they terminated their career in success and glory. 

hi the recent rebellion, a New Hampshire-born man, Ladd, whose 
body now lies in Massachusetts, was the first to shed his blood for 
union and freedom. 

Bunker Hill and Bennington, two shafts which commemorate 
glorious epochs in our country's history ; the one dedicated by New- 
Hampshire's grandest statesman, the other erected by a commission, 
the head of which was an honored ex-chief magistrate of our state. 

Their purpose is not yeC accomplished, and as the shadow of the 
one inclines to the west in the early morning to meet the intangible 
imprint of its associate at eventide, so may the descendants of the 
patriots by whose efforts these simple yet majestic obelisks were made 
possible, join hands under the flag of their fathers and stand firm to 
the principles which they commemorate. 

The history of New Hampshire should be a part of the catechism 
of every school boy and girl in the state. The Arabs say, " he who 
drinks of the Nile shall ever thirst,'' and the youth, who, in his early 
years, becomes imbued with the patriotism of the forefathers, may be 



62 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

safely trusted when anarchy and communism knock at the doors of 
the national capital and political discord and sectional jealousies 
threaten the very foundation of our government. 

The Massachusetts society of the " Sons of the Revolution " have 
acted practically in this direction by appropriating the sum of $400 
towards furnishing every public school in Boston with a fine reproduc- 
tion of Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington, in photo- 
gravure form, and guarantee to raise by individual donations such 
further sum as may be necessary to accomplish this end. 

The time has come when the patriotic societies of this country 
should fraternize under the hope and inspiration of the flag, and, 
exemplifying the traditions of early history, when the influence of 
communism, ignorance, and prejudice shall tend to weaken the spirit 
of patriotism, find full fruition in organized opposition, and offensive 
action if need be, for the preservation of the fundamental principles 
of government for which our fathers made so great a sacrifice. 

We lay our tribute at the feet of Liberty, and as the magi of the 
east, at the beginning of the Christian Era, acknowledged the guid- 
ance of the star, so long hoped for, so long delayed, let our faith rise 
triumphantly with sublime confidence and trust in one God, one coun- 
try, and one flag. 

Ezra S. Stearns was then introduced and read a 
biographical sketch of Meshech Weare. 

MESHECH WEARE. 

Meshech Weare was born in Hampton Falls, June 16, 1 7 1 3. For 
several years, and until the state demanded and freely received his un- 
divided service, he was much employed in town affairs. Between 
1745 and 1775 he served twenty years in the provincial house of rep- 
resentatives, and was three years the speaker of the house. From 
1747 to 1776 he was justice of the superior court of judicature, and 
during the ensuing six years he was the chief-justice of that court. 
As early as 1755 he was a colonel, and for some years was the 
commandant of the Third regiment of the provincial militia. 
Beginning with the Revolution he was a delegate in the five provincial 
congresses, and when the rebellion advanced to revolution he was 
eight and one half years the president of the council and the chairman 
of the committee of safety. To complete the measure of a most re- 
markable career, under the constitution of 1784 he was unanimously 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 63 

elected the first governor of New Hampshire. In feeble health he 
performed the duties of this exalted office, and died January 14, 1786, 
about seven months after the completion of a prolonged and illus- 
trious service. 

Several numbers of the "New Hampshire Register, 11 a few local 
histories, the biographical encyclopedias, and editorial notes appended 
to historical publications present brief sketches of Meshech Weare. 
These are all in substantially the same language, and the most preten- 
tious is limited to less than a half page of ordinary print. The Plumer 
Biographies, volume V of the Collections of the New Hampshire His- 
torical Society in an article by Paine Wingate, and " Bench and Bar " 
by Governor Bell, contain articles scarcely more extended, and none 
exceeding three pages in length. The only available material for a 
more extended account of the labors of this eminent man is preserved 
in the original records of his time. 

I. Nathaniel Weare, the emigrant ancestor of a distinguished 
family, settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, as early as 1638. He was 
a proprietor of Newbury, and for twenty years his name is frequently 
mentioned in the records. In 1659 he removed to Nantucket, where 
he died March 1, 1680-81. 

II. Nathaniel Weare, son of Nathaniel the emigrant, was born in 
England, 1631. He married, December 3, 1656, Elizabeth Swain, a 
daughter of Richard Swain, then of Rowley, Massachusetts, and later 
of Hampton, New Hampshire. He lived a few years in Newbury, and 
there his son Peter was born. In 1762 he removed to Hampton. His 
homestead, by divisions of the ancient town, for many years was a part 
of Hampton Falls, and more recently a part of Seabrook. He was 
frequently employed in public affairs, and was a prominent character 
in the contentions and controversies of his time. Twice he visited 
England and boldly asserted the cause of the people before the king. 
He was a representative in the assembly convening in 1685, and again 
in 1696, and a member of the council with little interruption from 
1692 to 17 1 5. In April, 1694, he was appointed chief-justice of the 
superior court of judicature, succeeding Judge Martyn, and presided 
in that court until 1696, when he was succeeded by Judge Smith. 
He died May 13, 17 18, aged 87 years. 

III. Nathaniel Weare, son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Swain) 
Weare, was born in Hampton, August 29, 1663, and died March 26, 
1755. He was a representative in the assembly which convened 
December 13, 1727, and was elected speaker. This assembly was 
dissolved the 27th day of the ensuing March, and a newly elected 



64 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

assembly convened April 9 of the same year. He was again a member 
and again elected speaker of the assembly. This election of speaker 
was set aside by Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth, and the house 
was directed to proceed in another election. The house firmly denied 
the authority of the governor to veto its election of a speaker, and an 
animated controversy ensued which was finally ended by the volun- 
tary resignation of Mr. Weare. 

The assembly reluctantly accepted the resignation, and adopted 
resolutions expressing their regard and respect for their chosen 
speaker. He remained a member of the assembly until its dissolution, 
December 3, 1730. He was a member of the succeeding assembly, 
which continued from February 3, 1730-31, until May 18, 1732, and 
also of the assembly which convened March 8, 1736-37, and was dis- 
solved November 17, 173S. 

Beginning with 1730, he was eight years a justice of the superior 
court of judicature. He married, November 19, 1692, Huldah Hus- 
sey, who died leaving five children ; and he married, second, August 
24, 1703, Mary Wait, who became the mother of nine children. Of 
these fourteen children of Nathaniel Weare, Meshech Weare was the 
eleventh child and youngest son. 

Peter Weare, another son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Swain) 
Weare, born in Newbury, November 15, 1660, was two years of age 
when the family removed to Hampton. He was a representative in 
the assembly from April 20, 1 7 1 5 , to November 27, 1727 ; and from 
July 2, 1722, to November 27, 1727, he was speaker of the house. 
He was again a member of the assembly from January 1 to October 
22, 1734. In 1726 he was appointed a justice of the superior court of 
judicature, and was continued on the bench about four years. During 
the brief administration of Governor Allen he was a member of the 
council, in 1698, but he was not included in the succeeding adminis- 
tration of the Earl of Bellomont. 

Unaided by the favors of a royal government, which a more sub- 
missive spirit would have secured, this family arose to eminence 
through the force of intellect and character. The record is inspiring. 
Nathaniel Weare, his sons Peter and Nathaniel, and his grandson 
Meshech, were members of the provincial assembly; three of them 
were speakers of the house, and two were members of the council. All 
were justices of the superior court of judicature, and two were chief- 
justices of that court. In addition to these distinguished honors, like 
the gentry of Kentucky the Weares were all colonels. It is safe to 
assert that Meshech Weare was of a distinguished lineage. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 65 

Of the early life of Meshech Weare nothing has been written, and 
little is known. He was graduated at Harvard university, 1735, u 'ith 
a good reputation for scholarship and deportment. The ensuing 
three years were devoted to the study of theology, and during some 
portion of this time he was called to officiate as a preacher in the neigh- 
boring churches. In 1738 he married a lady of many attractions and 
an equal number of acres. In the care of a family and of a farm of 
ample proportions he was peacefully and agreeably employed, until by 
progressive stages and frequent promotions he was fully occupied in 
the affairs of state. In 1739, at tne a g e °f twenty-six years, he was 
chosen by his townsmen the moderator of a town-meeting. This was 
not in itself a remarkable event, but in the life of Meshech Weare it 
was the first of a series of accumulating honors and faithful service. 
In 1740, and in many succeeding years, he was one of the selectmen 
of Hampton Falls. The records continue to assert his frequent em- 
ployment in town affairs and to bear his name upon important com- 
mittees and other positions of trust, until, in the troublous times of 
the Revolution, the state demanded and received his undivided time 
and efforts. His last service in town affairs was in June, 1775, when 
he was called to preside over a town-meeting. These glints of his 
home life testify at once to the ability and industry of the man and 
the unlimited confidence of his townsmen. 

When considered in connection with the characteristics of Mr. 
Weare, the following brief extracts from the records of Hampton Falls 
have a peculiar significance : 

Taken up, by Meshech Weare of Hampton Falls, a stray steer com- 
ing in four years old, being a brindled steer with a white face and 
white belly, his two hind feet white above the hoofs and has a brindled 
spot by each eye and is marked with a crop of the right ear and a notch 
in the end of the same, which is cropped. 

MESHECH WEARE. 

Hampton Falls, December y e 4 th 1752. 

Here we find him performing the simplest offices of the good citizen 
with the same conscientious care and painstaking industry with which, 
in later times, through seasons of gloom and difficulty, he directed 
with steady hand the affairs of state. And again, in the midst of his 
supremest trial, his industry and the variety of his employments are 
happily reflected in the records : 

Jonathan Green and Abigail Perkins, both of Kensington in the 
county of Rockingham and state of New Hampshire, were joined in 
holy Matrimony the 21 st Day of October, 1778. 

By me, MESHECH WEARE, Jus. of Peace. 



66 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The following day he was again at Exeter, and there gave an order to 
Colonel Folsom to deliver to the receiver-general $150,000, which 
had recently been received from Philadelphia. 

Meshech Weare was endowed with a measure of ability, enlarged 
by a liberal education, that fitted him for any public station. Mani- 
festing a degree of integrity that easily won the confidence of his 
fellow-men, and early acquiring a habit of industry that sought new 
conquests, he could not long confine his labor to the narrow limits of 
his native town. 

In January, 1744-5, and before he had completed his thirty-second 
year, he was elected a representative to the assembly or house of rep- 
resentatives. At this date the assembly consisted of twenty members. 
The towns of Portsmouth, Hampton (including Hampton Falls), and 
Dover were permitted to send three members each, Exeter, two, and 
Newcastle, Rye, Newmarket, Greenland, Stratham, Newington, Dur- 
ham, Kingston, and Londonderry, one each. 

From and after the act generally known as the " Triennial Act of 
April 27, 1728," the assembly was convened for the term of three 
years, unless sooner dissolved by the royal governor. In this instance 
it was dissolved in the following May, and a writ was immediately 
issued for the election of a new assembly, which convened June 5 of 
the same year. This assembly was dissolved June 4, 1748, and a new 
assembly convened January 3, 1748-9, which was continued until Jan- 
uary 4, 1752. During these seven years Mr. Weare was continued a 
member, and among associates of great ability he occupied a prominent 
position and received frequent and honorable mention in the records. 

The story of his life, even if feebly told, is never monotonous. His 
accumulating honors and rapid advancement through successive pro- 
motions are continually renewed in the annals of his time. Incident 
follows incident, and honor succeeds honor, with a rapidity that crowds 
the written page with the record of his successes and achievements. 

The succeeding assembly convened September 19, 1752, and was 
dissolved September 18, 1755. In this assembly he was a member, 
and in the organization of the house he was elected speaker. At this 
time five additional members were admitted — one each from the towns 
of South Hampton, Chester, and Plaistow, one from the district of 
Salem and Pelham, and one from the district of Dunstable and Merri- 
mack. 

Of the two succeeding assemblies, beginning October 23, 1755, 
and ending November 3, 1761, he was not a member. The town of 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 67 

Hampton Falls was represented by Josiah Batchelder in the first and by 
Richard Nason in the second assembly. His absence from the board 
of law-makers was not long continued. 

Of the next assembly, convening January 19, 1762, he was again a 
member. Henry Sherburne, who had been the speaker during the 
preceding six years, was continued in that office. This assembly — 
one of the shortest in the history of the province — was abruptly dis- 
solved February 4. It is difficult, at this remote period, to discover 
the cause of the governor's displeasure. In a sudden fit of dissatis- 
faction he arbitrarily dissolved an assembly that had scarcely com- 
pleted an organization. The people, to whom he appealed in a new 
election, firmly sustained their chosen representatives. All the mem- 
bers who had been suddenly dismissed through the caprice of a royal 
governor were again elected through the consistent and steadfast adhe- 
rence of the people, and again appeared before the governor in an 
assembly which convened March 10, 1762, and was dissolved March 8, 
1765. He was also elected to the succeeding assembly, which con- 
vened May 21, 1765. 

At this time only a member of the assembly was eligible to the 
office of clerk. Andrew Clarkson, for ten years the clerk of the assem- 
bly, having died, Mr. Weare was elected his successor November 21, 
1765. With the exception of three years he was clerk, and the rec- 
ords are transcribed in his hand, until 1775, when the royal government 
was dissolved, and on the ruins of a province was founded a state. 
Of the assembly convening May 17, 1768, and ending April 13, 1771, 
he was an active member. In the succeeding assembly, continuing 
three years, the town of Hampton Falls was represented by Jonathan 
Tilton, but Mr. Weare was elected to the assembly of historic interest 
which convened April 7, 1774. 

In opposition to the known wishes of Governor John Wentworth, 
this assembly chose a committee to correspond with like committees 
of the other provinces. After refusing to reconsider this action, the 
governor dissolved the assembly June 8, 1774. The members who 
composed this assembly subsequently met in an informal convention 
and issued a call for the choice of delegates to convene at Exeter in 
July. They also recommended a day of fasting and prayer, which, 
says Dr. Belknap, was observed with religious solemnity. 

In the midst of the stirring events of the spring of 1775, Governor 
Wentworth issued a writ for the election of a new assembly, which 
convened on the 4th day of May. The sessions were poorly attended. 
Mr. Weare first appeared in the house on the 12th clay of June, and 



68 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

qualified as clerk on the following day. The records clearly foretell 
the approaching Revolution. The contest for freedom was here begun, 
— by the assembly for the people and the royal governor for the 
throne. Failing to secure the desired legislation and to end an in- 
creasing contention, the governor prorogued the assembly from July 18 
to September 28. The assembly never reconvened. The service of 
Mr. Weare under the insignia of a king is here ended. His future 
efforts are in behalf of a free and independent state. It is over thirty 
years from his earliest to his latest service in the provincial legislature. 
During this period he was elected to the assembly ten times, and 
faithfully represented his townsmen over twenty years, of which he 
was nearly seven years a clerk, and three years a speaker, of the 
house. 

At the suggestion of the Lords of Trade, in the form of voluminous 
letters sent to the several American colonies, a convention comprising 
twenty-three delegates, representing New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, 
was held at Albany, in the summer of 1754. The delegates assem- 
bled June 19, and remained in conference until July 1 1, discussing 
plans for the greater security of the colonies and the maintenance of a 
firmer friendship with the Indians. All the proceedings, and even 
the interviews with representative Indians, were conducted with deco- 
rum, and are reported at length in " Documents Relating to the 
Colonial History of the Stale of New York," volume VI. 

In this conference, or congress as it was called, New Hampshire 
was represented by four delegates. The council selected Theodore 
Atkinson and Richard Wibird, and the house chose Meshech Weare 
and Henry Sherburne, and, in order to remove all barriers to their atten- 
dance, the council and assembly were prorogued from May 8 to July 16. 
Mr. Weare and his associates from New Hampshire were in constant 
attendance, and made an early report of the proceedings to the council 
and assembly. 

In the present use of the term Mr. Weare was not a lawyer, but 
according to the usages of his time he was eligible to the bench. 
Members of the legal profession were seldom called to a judicial office 
until an opposite practice became quite general early in the present 
century. In 1747 he was appointed a justice of the superior court of 
judicature, and was continued in the office until 1776, when he was 
promoted to chief-justice of that court. On account of advancing age 
and increasing infirmities, he resigned June 9, 1782, after a faithful 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 69 

and efficient service of thirty-five years. His resignation was accepted 
by the legislature with expressions of regret, and the house of repre- 
sentatives signalized the solemnity of the proceeding in the following 
terms : 

Whereas the Hon ble Meshech Weare, Esq r , Chief Justice of the 
Superior Court of Judicature of this State, hath signified to this House 
that, by reason of his advanced age & bodily infirmities, he is unable 
any longer to perform the duties of that office & hath accordingly pre- 
sented his resignation thereof to this House — It is therefore 

Resolved: That the Speaker, in the name of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, make Known to the said Meshech Weare, Esq r that it is 
with regret they find themselves obliged to accept of his resignation on 
account of his want of health still to perform the great and important 
duties of the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature 
for said state, &, at the same time, desire to have expressed the high 
sense which they entertain of the uprightness & integrity of his con- 
duct and of his due administration of Justice in his said office, during his 
long continuance therein ; And Return him there most sincere & united 
thanks for his past services. 

The appointment of a committee of correspondence, May 28, 1774, 
by the provincial house of representatives and in direct opposition to 
the wishes of Governor Wentworth, was the first act in the legislative 
history of the Revolution. The succeeding congresses, and later the 
stated sessions of the legislature to the present time, are a connected 
series of events, and are a continued sequence of the initial action of 
this committee. The assembly having been dissolved, there was no 
legal organization existing. Immediately the committee bridged the 
chasm. They called together the members of the late assembly, and 
that body issued letters to the several towns inviting them to send del- 
egates to the first provincial congress, which convened at Exeter in 
July, 1774. These assembled delegates, clothed with the authority of 
an election by the people for a specific purpose, appointed John Sulli- 
van and Nathaniel Folsom delegates to a general congress of the 
provinces. John Wentworth of Somersworth, Meshech Weare, and 
Josiah Bartlett were chosen to instruct the delegates. 

The second congress or convention, comprising one hundred and 
forty-four delegates, assembled at Exeter, January 25, 1775. At this 
session a committee to call a succeeding congress and a committee of 
correspondence were chosen. Mr. Weare was a member of both 
committees. 



70 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The third congress assembled at Exeter, April 21, 1775. John 
Wentworth of Somersworth, who had been president of the two pre- 
ceding congresses, was again chosen to preside, and during his absence 
Mr. Weare was chosen temporary chairman. 

The fourth provincial congress assembled at Exeter, May 17, 1775. 
The last provincial assembly, it has been stated, convened at Ports- 
mouth the fourth day of the same month. Mr. Weare and several 
other recognized patriots were members of both bodies. He met with 
the infant government at Exeter the 2d clay of June, and with the 
expiring administration at Portsmouth the 12th and 13th 'days of the 
same month. The attendance roll of the congress from June 10 to 
July 7 is not found in the state archives, but the journals prove his 
presence at Exeter, July 5, 6, and 7, and during these three days, in 
the absence of President Thornton, he was president pro tempore. 
The congress having adjourned from July 7 to August 22, he was 
again in the assembly at Portsmouth, July 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 18, 
and when the congress reassembled at Exeter he remained in that body 
until it was dissolved, November 16, 1775. During the closing days 
of this session he was again temporary chairman. 

Referring to the attitude of Mr. Weare at this point of time, Rev. 
Paine Wingate has written, — 

He was in doubt as to the expediency of some measures that were 
adopted ; and in the first efforts of the American people to resist the 
British claims, he seemed not prepared to go all lengths with the spirit 
of the times. However, when a convention of the state was called and 
they were about assuming the powers of government, President Weare, 
in the second week of their sitting, appeared as a member of that body 
and took his seat, as he had occasionally before attended conventions 
for the appointing delegates to congress. On account of his former 
distinctions in high offices, as well as his deservedly esteemed personal 
character, his now full accession to the American cause was eagerly 
embraced by the convention and he was immediately placed at the 
head of the New Hampshire state government. 

The student of history will not overlook the fact that Mr. Wingate 
wrote with a knowledge obtained from a personal contact with the men 
and the affairs of this period, and that for thirteen or more years imme- 
diately preceding 1776 he was a resident, and for several years the 
settled minister, in Hampton Falls. When literally construed, these 
remarks of Mr. Wingate are not in exact harmony with the record. In 
all the early meetings of the patriots Mr. Weare was present. A man 
is known by the company he keeps. If, in the summer of 1775, ne 
attended the last assembly at Portsmouth, his fellow-associates were 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 71 

Woodbury Langdon, Josiah Bartlett, Nathaniel Folsom, Ebenezer 
Thompson, and others of equal devotion to the American cause, and 
when he hastily returned to encourage the patriots in congress at Exeter 
they attended him, and no evidence of hesitation is recorded of the 
humblest member. In both assemblies their patriotism was equally 
conspicuous. At Portsmouth they thwarted the desires of the royal 
governor, and prevented the passage of oppressive laws. At Exeter 
they boldly upheld the cause of the people, and devised measures for 
an instant prosecution of the war. Mr. Weare, by birth and education, 
was a loyal subject of Great Britain. It is not presumed that his ad- 
herence to the popular cause, like the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, 
was an instant change of opinions and purposes. Wisdom is the fruit 
of thought, and a deliberation that leads to a just conclusion is a growth 
and not a sudden impulse. Like other patriots, doubtless, he pondered 
and hesitated, until the accumulating wrongs of his countrymen enlisted 
his sympathies and satisfied his conscience. The measure of patriot- 
ism is by comparison. None of his associates were earlier or more 
firmly enlisted in the cause of the American colonies. 

The provincial congress, May 20, 1775, appointed a committee of 
safety, consisting of Matthew Thornton, Josiah Bartlett, William Whip- 
ple, Nathaniel Folsom, and Ebenezer Thompson. Three clays later, 
Israel Morey, Samuel Webster, Samuel Ashley, and Josiah Moulton 
were added to the committee, and to them were delegated unusual 
powers. The committee, however, was not complete without Meshech 
Weare, and he was elected July 5. These are familiar names in the 
annals of the Revolution. They administered the affiairs of a commu- 
nity without a government until the election of a new committee early 
in the ensuing year. 

The fifth congress assembled at Exeter, December 21, 1775. From 
this assembly the sessions of the legislature of New Hampshire have 
been continuous and uninterrupted. On the 5th day of January the 
assembled delegates resolved themselves into a house of representatives 
for the ensuing year, and adopted a form of government to remain in 
force during the war. This primitive constitution provided that a 
council of twelve members for the ensuing year should be chosen by 
the house of representatives, and that thereafter a council of twelve 
members and a house of representatives should be elected annually by 
the people, and should convene on the third Wednesday of December. 
To the council and the house of representatives, acting in concurrence 
or in joint assembly, were delegated both legislative and executive 
powers. Under this constitution New Hampshire was styled a colony 



72 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

until September, when the name of state was first employed. Although 
not provided in the constitution, the legislature during the war con. 
tinued a custom, inaugurated by the provincial congress, of choosing a 
committee of safety, to continue in office and to administer the govern- 
ment during the recesses of the legislature. To this committee were 
delegated executive powers, and none but members of the council or 
house of representatives were ever chosen to this office. It was an 
early practice under this constitution to choose a new committee for 
each recess. A little later the committees were appointed to serve until 
a new committee was chosen, and after March, 1780, the term of 
service was continued through the legislative year. 

Such was the form of government from January 5, 1776, to June 2, 
1784, of which Meshech Weare was the most conspicuous character. 
In addition to his service in the provincial congresses and to his pre- 
vious service on the first committee of safety, of which Matthew Thorn- 
ton was chairman, he was continuously a member of the council, and 
with each election he was made president of that body. Of the suc- 
cessive committees of safety chosen within this period he was a mem- 
ber, and from the beginning to the end he was the chairman of the 
committee. Within the space of eight and one half years he was hon- 
ored with nine elections to the council and nineteen appointments to 
the committee of safety, and as many times was he elected president of 
the council or chairman of the committee ; and, as if to assert the full 
measure of the esteem and confidence of his associates, the records 
often affirm that he was elected unanimously. With each election 
there were changes in the membership of the council and of the com- 
mittee of safety, but his colleagues, however constituted, were united 
and constant in his preferment. 

Josiah Bartlett, the only man who served an equal time in the coun- 
cil, and other leaders who were accustomed to honors and important 
positions of trust, were unwilling to accept preferment at the expense 
of their esteemed associate and beloved friend ; and while health 
suffered him to labor for the people, the most exalted seat in the 
councils of the state was reserved with pious care for their respected 
chief. 

During these years of heroism and of sublime achievement, he was 
at all times foremost among the supporters of the great issues sub- 
mitted to the arbitrament of arms. The record of his official career 
cannot avoid the reiteration of associated events, but it will not be com- 
plete without the statement that he was one of the committee of fifteen 
who drafted the constitution of 1776, and that he was a delegate in the 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 73 

convention that submitted a constitution which was rejected by the 
people in 1778. It does not appear that he was a member of the con- 
vention that framed the constitution of 1784. 

His public service is nearly completed. A grateful people reserved 
the highest honor within their power to bestow as the ultimate expres- 
sion of their affection and esteem. A new constitution went into oper- 
ation in June, 1784, and without opposition he became the first gov- 
ernor of New Hampshire. From 1784 until 1792 the governor was at 
once the chief executive and president of the senate. For eight years 
the executive of New Hampshire was styled " His Excellency the Pres- 
ident." By an amendment of the constitution in 1792 this title was 
changed to " His Excellency the Governor.'''' Referring to the 
administration of 1784, Dr. Belknap says, — " President Weare, being 
worn out with public services, resigned his office before the expiration 
of the year, and after languishing under the infirmities of age, died on 
the 15th day of January, 1786." This erroneous statement has been 
repeated many times. Living among and writing within a very few 
years of these events, it is remarkable that Dr. Belknap overlooked the 
official record, and in a single paragraph misstated the date of death. 

With the exception of his resignation as chief-justice, the records of 
May, 1784, contain the earliest references to his failing health. The 
journals establish the fact that he attended a special session of the 
legislature, which adjourned April 17, and thereafter continued to meet 
with the committee of safety until May 21, when, for the first time, 
his increasing infirmities confined him to his home. At the last 
session of the committee, beginning May 27 and continuing three days, 
he was not present. 

Under the constitution of 1784 the legislature was convened June 2. 
It was the inauguration of a new government, the founding of a free 
and independent state, and the glad fruition of a buoyant hope that 
had sustained them through years of gloom and severest trial. The 
absence of the chief magistrate on this occasion was formally entered 
in the journals. 

After several days of deliberation, the senate, on Tuesday of the 
second week of the session, chose Woodbury Langdon president pro 
tempore, and during the ensuing week he was the acting governor of 
the state. Tuesday, June 15, which was the last day of the session. 
Governor Weare was present, took the oaths of office, and presided in 
the senate during the day. Through the summer and autumn the gov- 
ernor and council held frequent sessions, completing a great amount of 
official work, and making an unusual number of appointments incident 



74 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

to the inauguration of a new government. An adjourned session of 
the legislature convened in October and continued three weeks. The 
governor was present, presiding in the senate and in the executive 
council. No renewed suggestion of his illness appears in the records 
until another adjourned session of the legislature, which continued 
from February 9 to February 25. During these sixteen days Wood- 
bury Langdon was again acting governor. The absence of a record of 
meetings of the council indicates the continued sickness of Governor 
Weare until March 16, when it is stated that a meeting of the governor 
and council was called, and " his excellency being sick did not attend ;" 
but two days later the record continues, " The council having received 
a summons from his excellency, requiring their attendance on him at 
Hampton Falls, repaired to that place.' 1 The man was worn and 
feeble, and yet the chief magistrate was hale and strong. He promptly 
discharged all the duties of his office until the close of the official year, 
although on account of his failing health the later meetings were held 
at his home in Hampton Falls. 

His official career is ended. The public has enjoyed the vigor of 
his manhood and the wisdom of his declining years. No strength had 
been reserved for the evening of life. Worn out by incessant appli- 
cation, he was prostrated beyond recovery. Calmly awaiting the pres- 
ence of the spectre of death, his remaining life is measured in months. 
In December he made a will distributing among his children his meagre 
estate, but leaving to his posterity the priceless inheritance of a noble 
name. A few days later his death was proclaimed by the solemn voice 
of tolling bells, and the town-clerk of the ancient town opens to an 
unwritten page of the record and solemnly inscribes, — 

The Hon 1,,e Meshech Weare, Fsq. and Late President of the State 
of New Hampshire, departed this Life, at five o'clock, P. M. in his 73 d 
year January 14, 1786. 

At this time, living and dead, there are forty-three ex-governors of 
New Hampshire. It is a distinguished array of honored names, and 
an imposing assemblage of genius and character. With the exception 
of Mr. Weare, the portraits of all, adding individuality to the influence 
of noble lives, are now hanging in the council chamber. Of Mr. Weare 
the past has preserved no portrait. Tradition asserts that he was tall, 
slender, and commanding ; that he was incisive in speech, and affable 
in manner ; that he was erect, and walked rapidly and with a dignity 
of bearing that is summoned only by conscious strength and nobility 
of mind. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 75 

The records, constituting volumes transcribed in his hand, his state 
papers, and many letters preserved in the state archives, are an enduring 
testimonial to his industry. In them are revealed the steadfast purpose 
of an honest man, and the power of intellectual force and vigor. In a 
patriot possessing such qualities of mind and character, the quickened 
instincts of the people discerned a leader for troublous times. Happy 
and fortunate in their first election, the patriots of the Revolution suf- 
fered no rival to usurp the powers which they had freely delegated to 
their chosen friend and faithful servant. 

Meshech Weare, with qualities more solid than brilliant, will be en- 
rolled in history among the great men of his time. If he did not com- 
mand the ready language and magnetic power that gave John Sullivan 
an instant command over his fellow-men ; if he was never driven for- 
ward by a hot and imperious temper that raised General Stark to the 
sublimest heroism ; if he had not the courtly bearing and commanding 
presence that made John Langdon a conspicuous figure in any assem- 
bly, — he did possess an equalized force and a measure of intellectual 
vigor that made him foremost in the councils of the state, and a degree 
of industry, faithfulness, and honesty, combined with amiable qualities 
of mind and disposition, that made him first among the people. 

At successive stages of his eventful career his associates addressed 
him as Colonel Weare. as Esquire Weare, as Assemblyman Weare, as 
Councillor Weare, as President Weare, as Judge Weare, and as Chief- 
Justice Weare ; but no title adds dignity to his honored name. As 
long as the story of the Revolution invites the study and excites the 
admiration of a grateful people, as long as " Sons of the American 
Revolution, " and kindred societies, continue to honor the memory of 
patriotic fathers, this honored leader in the councils of the state can 
receive no grander title than Meshech Weare. 

A poem, by Mrs. Adelaide C. Waldron of Farming- 
ton, was then read by Miss Grace J. Alexander of East 
Concord, Mrs. Waldron being unavoidably absent. 

[No copy of this can now be found. — Ed.] 

Mrs. Martha C. B. Clarke of Manchester, State Re- 
gent of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 
then spoke in behalf of that society. 

Proceeded to the election of new members, and 



76 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



Bradbury Cilley, Amherst, Mass., 

Charles P. Griffin, South Danville, 

Charles F. B..Philbrook, Boston, Mass., 

Herbert P. Rolfe, Great Falls, Mon., 

Isaac K. Gage, Penacook, 

Sidney M. Smith, Claremont, 

Nathan W. Fay, 

Harry C. Fay, 

William S. Balcom, " 

Isaac H. Long, " 

Henry Judkins, " 

Charles H. Long, 

Charles H. Thurston, 

Otis G. Hammond, 

Hiram F. Gerrish, 

John H. Oberly, 

F. Senter Frisbie, 

Thomas P. Cheney, 

William F. Head, 

Henry W. Blair, 

Josiah Carpenter, " 

Person C. Cheney, " 

were elected members of the society. 

The committee to nominate a list of officers for the 
ensuing year, then reported the following : 



Worcester, Mass., 
Concord, 



Boston, Mass., 
Ashland, 
Hooksett, 
Manchester, 



PRESIDENT. 

Charles E. Staniels, 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

John M. Hill, 
Joshua G. Hall, 
Edward F. Smyth, 
Eben Ferren, 
Jeremiah Smith, 
William L. Foster, 



East Concord. 

Concord. 

Dover. 

Tilton. 

Manchester. 

Cambridge, Mass. 

Concord. 




Otis G. Hammond. 
Secretary, 1894. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 77 

SECRETARY AND TREASURER. 

Otis G. Hammond, Concord. 

BOARD OF MANAGERS. 

The President and Secretary, ex officio. 

George C. Gilmore, Manchester. 

John Kimball, Concord. 

Charles B. Spofford, Claremont. 

Henry O. Kent, Lancaster. 

Howard L. Porter, Concord. 

William W. Bailey, Nashua. 

Thomas Cogswell, Gilmanton. 

FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

George B. Chandler, Manchester. 

William Rand, Rochester. 

Allan H. Robinson, Concord. 

HISTORIOGRAPHER. 

Fred Leighton, Concord. 

and they were elected to their respective offices. 

Mrs. Josiah Carpenter then gave an account of the 
recent meeting of the congress of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution in Washington, D. C. 

Miss Elizabeth Stark of Manchester then gave some 
reminiscences of the wife of Gen. John Stark. 

The matter of joining the National Society was then 
taken from the table, and the action of the President 
and Board of Managers was approved. 

The matter of necessary changes in the constitution 
to make it conform to that of the National Society was 
left to the Board of Managers to be reported on at a 
subsequent meeting. 



78 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The Board of Managers was authorized to recom- 
mend such additional officers as are required by the 
National Society. 

John G. Crawford of Manchester was then intro- 
duced and read a paper on " Castle William and 
Mary." 

CASTLE WILLIAM AND MARY. 

The movement that was inaugurated a few years ago to erect a 
monument to the memory of General Sullivan, and my admiration for 
the grand military and civic record of that noble patriot, was what 
led me to investigate the subject in relation to the dismantling of 
Castle William and Mary. To make sure that the histories already 
published giving an account of the explorations were correct, I 
devoted much time to the accounts given by those who were familiar 
with these transactions, and who gave the facts and circumstances in 
numerous letters and official reports, all of which were published in 
the " American Archives. 11 The paper I am requested to present to 
you to-day is the result of these investigations, and if I should differ, 
as I shall, from those who have published these accounts, I trust that 
some other historian will show wherein I am in error, that in the end 
the true account may be given. 

Historians are allowed to take great liberty with facts, but when 
they record important transactions, and state matters which are not 
facts, then that which purports to be history not only ceases to be of 
value but becomes detrimental and misleading. 

The errors which have occurred in all the histories of New Hamp- 
shire in relation to the expeditions which were planned and carried 
out to dismantle Fort, or Castle, William and Mary are so apparent 
that they certainly require some correction. 

If the histories in their entirety are to be judged from the stand- 
point, as to correctness, of their account of Fort William and Mary, 
then it may well be said, " There has been no history of New Hamp- 
shire yet published. 11 

Fort, or Castle, William and Mary was one of the line of forts 
established by England along the coast to defend the several harbors 
and ports of entry. Portsmouth, at the time of the trouble between 
the colonies and the mother country, was, next to Boston, the most 
important port along the New England coast. This fort was situated 
in Newcastle, some two miles down the harbor from Portsmouth. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 79 

After the close of the French and Indian war there had been but 
little use to maintain a large force in it ; only sufficient to care for the 
guns and munitions stored therein, and for revenue service. The ex- 
pense of maintaining the fort, in supplying it with men and provis- 
ions, was borne by the colony of New Hampshire. The troubles 
which had been brewing between the colonies and England ever 
since the passage of the stamp act, which culminated in the War of 
Independence, made the occupation of the fortifications on the coast 
of great importance in the struggle soon to follow. 

The house of representatives of the province of New Hampshire, 
which convened at Portsmouth, the capitol, on Thursday, May 26, 
1774, voted "That there be allowed and paid unto the captain- 
general of this province for payment of officers, soldiers, billiting, 
fire wood, and candles, for support of his majesty's Fort William and 
Mary for one year, viz.: from the 25th of March, 1774, to the 
25th of March, 1775, the sum of two thousand pounds, lawful 
money, to be paid in four quarterly payments out of the money 
that is, or shall be, in the treasury, with advice of council.* 1 This 
vote was sent up to the council by Mr. Jenness. The next day, May 
27, the secretary brought from the board the vote for an allowance 
for the fort, with a verbal message from His Excellency Governor 
Wentworth, that he thought the allowance insufficient, and desired 
some alterations might be made, by allowing a larger sum, or appoint- 
ing a number of soldiers sufficient, with proper allowance. 

The house took immediate consideration of the message from the 
governor, and, to show their loyalty to England, voted that the cap- 
tain-general be desired to give orders for the enlisting three men to 
be posted at his majesty's Fort William and Mary for one year, com- 
mencing the 25th day of March, 1774, under such officer as he shall 
appoint. 

This vote was sent up by Colonel Folsom and Captain Waldron. 
It was returned on the same day to the assembly, with a message 
from the governor, in which he said: "The vote of assembly for 
the support of his majesty's Castle William and Mary, dated this day, 
appears to me to be so inadequate that it is my duty to inform the 
assembly that I do not think it safe to entrust so important a fortress 
to the care and defense of three men and one officer." The mem- 
bers of the assembly were not disposed to vote a large sum or raise 
much of an army to occupy the fort. Already there was a movement 
to form another government, and from this assembly were to come 
those men who were to lead the colony in its struggle for independence. 



80 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Committees of correspondence had been appointed in several of 
the colonies to consider the situation of the country, and on the next 
day, after voting three men to defend the fort, the assembly chose 
Hon. John Wentworth of the house, Samuel Cutts, John Gedding, 
Clement March, Joseph Bartlett, Henry Prescott, and John Picker- 
ing, a committee to correspond with the committees appointed by the 
several houses of the sister colonies. 

They took into consideration the "great difficulties that have 
arisen and still subsist between our parent country and the colonies 
on this continent," and declared that they were ready to join in all 
salutary measures that may be adopted by them at this important 
crisis for saving the rights and privileges of the Americans." After 
choosing this committee, and passing the resolution, they took up the 
governor's message in reference to the support of the castle and author- 
ized the enlistment of five men under an officer to be posted at the 
fort. 

Governor Wentworth saw the tendency of the members of the gen- 
eral assembly to join with the representatives of the sister colonies in 
appointing a congress of the colonies, and to prevent further action he 
adjourned the assembly from time to time until the 8th day of 
June, 1774, when he dissolved it. 

The provisions made for the fort were carried out, and five men 
under the command of Capt. John Cochran were stationed there 
to defend it. This was the condition of affairs when, on the 
13th of December, 1774, the movement was first put on foot to 
dismantle the fort, and it is this account given by the several histo- 
rians of New Hampshire, that we desire to call attention to, and to 
give, as far as the records will permit, a correct version of the affair. 

In order to better understand the true history, it is necessary to 
copy extracts from pages 29S and 299 of McClintock 1 s History of 
New Hampshire. I am fully aware that McClintock's history is not 
considered reliable in its details, having been hastily gathered, and 
published without that verification which should accompany all his- 
tories, yet it stands before the public as the history of New Hamp- 
shire, and though this generation may be aware of its many deficien- 
cies, it may be regarded as correct by the generations to come after 
us. Yet, McClintock is not alone responsible for the many historical 
inaccuracies on these two pages, for the earlier writers upon this sub- 
ject, including Mr. Amory, in his Life of Gen. John Sullivan, and 
Headley in his work, Washington and His Generals, made the same 
mistakes. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 81 

"An order had been passed by the king in council, prohibiting the 
exportation of gunpowder and military stores to America. The com- 
mittee of safety received a copy of it by express from Boston 
the 13th of December. They collected a company with great 
secrecy and dispatch, who went to Fort William and Mary at New 
Castle, under the direction of Maj. John Sullivan and Capt. John 
Langdon, confined the captain of the fort and his five men, and 
brought off one hundred barrels of gunpowder. The next day 
another company brought off fifteen of the lightest cannon, all the 
small arms, and some warlike stores. 

" On the 13th of December, 1774, Paul Revere took his frst public 
ride. While it may not have been so far reaching in importance 
as his later one, it richly deserves a place in history. It hap- 
pened in this manner: the Boston committee of safety had just 
heard of the British order that no military stores should be exported 
to America. They accordingly sent Paul Revere on a fleet horse to 
Portsmouth to apprize the similar committee there of the news, and 
probably to urge them to secure the powder which was in Fort 
William and Mary in the harbor, as reinforcements were expected 
shortly from England. . . . John Sullivan was a member of the 
Provincial congress that year, and had just arrived in Portsmouth 
from Philadelphia. . . . Sullivan proposed the immediate capture of 
the place, and offered to lead the men to the attack. A military force 
was accordingly summoned as secretly as possible from the neighbor- 
hood. Sullivan and John Langdon took the command and the march 
was commenced towards the English fort. It was a hazardous un- 
dertaking. There was danger from the fort. If the captain became 
aware of their designs he was sure to turn the guns on them and 
destroy them. But no alarm was given ; with a rush they gained the 
gate, captured the sentry, and before a challenge could be given had 
the captain and every man in the fort prisoners. The British flag 
was hauled down, the gunpowder, of which there were one hundred 
barrels in the fort was immediately taken away and hid in the houses 
of the patriots. Sullivan concealed a portion of it under the pulpit 
of the Durham meeting-house. A large part of this plunder after- 
wards did good service at Bunker Hill. Next day fifteen of the 
lighter cannon and all the small arms were carried away. The 
governor and his officers received no intelligence of the affair until it 
was too late to remedy it. . . . It was the first act of armed hostility 
committed against the crown of Great Britain by an American." 

The above quotation from one and one half pages of what is called 
history, contains no less than sixteen errors, some of which I desire 
to call attention to, that the future historian of our state — and no 
state stands in need of one more than New Hampshire — may not 
repeat the same in giving an account of these expeditions. 

The order in the British council, prohibiting the exportation of gun- 
powder, etc., may have been the primary cause for the dismantling of 
the fort, but not the immediate cause. That order was not what the 



82 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

committee at Portsmouth received at the hands of Paul Revere from 
Boston. A gentleman in Boston, who evidently was informed upon 
the subject, said in a letter to Mr. Rivington in New York under date 
of December 20, 1774: 

" On Monday, the 12th instant, our worthy citizen, Mr. Paul 
Revere, was sent express from only two or three of the committee of 
correspondence at Boston — of whom no number under seven were 
empowered to act — to a like committee at Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
shire, informing them « That orders had been sent to the governors 
of these provinces to deliver up the several fortifications or castles to 
General Gage, and that a number of troops had the preceding day 
embarked on board the transports with a design to proceed and take 
possession of said castle.'' This information was delivered by Paul 
Revere to Samuel Cutts, one of the committee at Portsmouth, who 
immediately called together the committee to consider the situation. 
Action was postponed until the following day. Some of the com- 
mittee, deeming a delay dangerous, determined to immediately seize 
the fort." 

There was no secrecy about the matter. Notice of their intention 
was openly avowed on the streets of Portsmouth. In a letter written 
from Portsmouth, under date of December 17, 1774, the writer 
says : 

"On Wednesday last a drum and a fife paraded the streets of 
Portsmouth, accompanied by several committee men and the Sons of 
Liberty, publickly avowing their intention of taking possession of Fort 
William and Mary. 1 ' 

Notice of this intention was sent by Governor Wentworth to the 
commander of the fort. Captain Cochran, who was in command, in 
his report to Governor Wentworth on December 14, said: 

" I received your Excellency's favor of yesterday, and in obedience 
thereto kept a strict watch all night and added two men to my usual 
number, being all I could get. Nothing material occurred till this 
day, 1 o'clock, when I was informed there was a number of people 
coming to take possession of the fort, upon which, having only five 
effective men with me, I prepared to make the best defense I could, 
and pointed some guns to those places where I expected they would 
enter. About 3 o'clock the fort was besieged on all sides by upwards 
of four hundred men. I told them on their peril not to enter; they 
replied they would. I immediately ordered three 4-pounders to be 
fired on them, and then the small arms, and before we could be 
ready to fire again we were stormed on all quarters, and they imme- 
diately secured both me and my men, and kept us prisoners about 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 83 

one hour and a half, during which time they broke open the powder 
house and took all the powder away except one barrel, and having 
put it into boats and sent it off, they released me from my confine- 
ment. To which I can only add, that I did all in my power to defend 
the fort, but all my efforts could not avail against so great a number.'" 

This was not Paul Kevere's first public ride. He had been sent 
express on important business on at least two occasions previous to his 
ride to Portsmouth. News of the passage of the Boston port bill was 
received in Boston on the ioth day of May, 1774. On Friday, the 
13th, about noon, General Gage arrived and landed at the castle. 
On the same day, the 13th, a meeting was held in Faneuil Hall 
to consider the edict for shutting up the harbor. Samuel Adams was 
moderator. They voted to invite the other colonies to come into a 
non-importation agreement till the act of blocking up their harbor was 
repealed. They voted to forthwith transmit the same to all the other 
colonies, and on Saturday, the 14th of May, just seven months before 
he rode to Portsmouth, Paul Revere was dispatched with important 
letters to the southern colonies. On the 20th of May he arrived at 
Philadelphia and delivered the letters and a meeting was called, which 
was attended by between two and three hundred people, and the letters 
read. A committee was appointed to answer the same, and on the 
2 1 st, Paul Revere started on his return, stopping on his way at New 
York and Hartford. 

Revere was sent over the same route again the last of September, 
1774, with dispatches to the general congress, and arrived October 5, 
1774, at Philadelphia. 

John Sullivan was a member of the continental congress which met 
September 5. This meeting could hardly be called a congress. It 
was a meeting of delegates from the several colonies to consider the 
situation and devise some measures to have the difficulties between the 
colonies and England adjusted. They drafted an address to the king, 
in which they made their final appeal for justice. Peyton Randolph 
was president. The first name signed to the address, after the presi- 
dent's, was John Sullivan. John Sullivan had returned from the 
sitting of congress, and was at his home in Durham on the 14th 
of December, and did not go to Portsmouth until the 15th, as 
stated by Mr. Bennett, who is the authority for the statements made 
in Amory's Life of Sullivan. 

The account given by Governor Bell in his History of Exeter, as 
taken from the lips of Gideon Lamson fifty years ago, is so far from 
the accounts given by all others, it ceases to be of any value, for any 
one can readily see the many errors contained therein. 



84 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The errors which have occurred in other histories have arisen from 
the mixing up of the two expeditions, the one on December 14, when 
the powder was removed, which occurred in the afternoon of that day, 
and the expedition on the night of the 15 th, when the cannon and 
small arms were seized. The latter expedition was led by Maj. John 
Sullivan, and had the writers upon the capture of the fort applied the 
description to the work accomplished on the night of the 15th, they 
would not have been far from the truth. 

On the 1 4th , when the forces started for the fort and removed 
the powder, expresses were sent to all the surrounding towns, and 
they came into Portsmouth on the 15th. This is the statement of 
Captain Bennett, who relates his story many years after. He says 
he was at work for Mr. Sullivan, and on the 15th of December a 
messenger came to his house in Durham and informed Major Sullivan 
of the situation at Portsmouth, and Sullivan, with others, immediately 
started for the latter place. 

In a letter written at Portsmouth, under date of December 17, 1774, 
from which I have already quoted, the writer says : 

" On Wednesday last a drum and fife paraded the streets of Ports- 
mouth, accompanied by several committee men and Sons of Liberty, 
publickly avowing their intention of taking possession of Fort 
William and Mary, which was garrisoned by six invalids.'' 

After describing the capture of the powder, which he says was 
carried up to Exeter, a town fifteen miles distant, he says : 

" The next day after, while the governor and council were assembled 
in the council chamber, between two and three hundred persons came 
from Durham and the adjoining towns, headed by Major Sullivan, one 
of the delegates to the congress. They drew up before the council 
chamber, and demanded an answer to the following questions : 
Whether there were any ships or troops expected here, or if the gov- 
ernor had wrote for any? They were answered that his excellency 
knew of no forces coming hither, and that none had been sent for ; 
upon which they retired to the Taverns, and about 10 or 1 1 o'clock at 
night a large party repaired to the fort, and it is said they carried away 
all the small arms. This morning, about sixty horsemen accoutred, 
came into town, and gave out that seven hundred more were on their 
march to Portsmouth, from Exeter, Greenland, Newmarket, etc., and 
would be in that town by 1 1 o'clock ; their intention, it is suspected, 
is to dismantle the fort, and throw the cannon, consisting of a fine 
train of 42-pounders, into the sea." 

Another writer, under date of December 20, 1774, after giving the 
account of the seizure of the fort and removal of the powder, which 
agrees with the other accounts herein given, says : 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 85 

" Previous to this, expresses had been sent out to alarm the coun- 
try. Accordingly a large body of men marched the next clay from 
Durham, headed by two generals — Major Sullivan, one of the worthy 
delegates who represented that province in the continental congress, 
and the parson of the parish [Rev. Mr. Adams most likely], who 
having been long accustomed to apply himself more to the cure of the 
bodies than the souls of his parish, had forgotten that the weapons of his 
warfare ought to be spiritual and not carnal, and therefore marched 
down to supply himself with the latter from the king's fort, and assisted 
in robbing him of his warlike stores. 

"After being drawn up on the parade, they chose a committee, 
consisting of those persons who had been most active in the riot of 
the preceding day, with Major Sullivan and some others, to wait on the 
governor and know of him whether any of the king's ships or troops 
were expected. The governor, after expressing to them his great con- 
cern for the consequences of taking the powder from the fort, of which 
they pretended to disapprove and to be ignorant of, assured them that 
he knew of neither troops nor ships coming into the province, and 
ordered the major, as a magistrate, to go and disperse the people. 

" When the committee returned to the body and reported what the 
governor had told them, they voted that it was satisfactory, and that 
they would return home. But by the eloquent harangue of their 
Demosthenes, they were first prevailed upon to vote that they took part 
with and approved of the measures of those who had taken the pow- 
der. Matters appeared then to subside, and it was thought every man 
had returned peaceably to his home. Instead of this, Major Sullivan, 
with about seventy of his clients, concealed themselves till the even- 
ing, and then went to the fort and brought off in gondolas all the 
small arms, with fifteen 4-pounders and one 9-pounder, and a 
quantity of twelve and four-and-twenty pound shot, which they con- 
veyed to Durham, etc. The day following being Friday, another 
body of men from Exeter, headed by Colonel Folsom, the other 
delegate to the continental congress, marched into Portsmouth 
and paraded about the town, and having passed several votes expres- 
sive of their approbation of the measures that had been pursued by 
the bodies the two preceding days in robbing the fort of the guns, 
powder, etc., retired home in the evening without further mischief." 1 

The party led by Major Sullivan on the night of the 15 th was 
conducted in great secrecy and no alarm was given. The capture of 
the powder on the 14th was in open daylight; there was noth- 
ing secret about it. They were fired upon from the fort but no one 
was injured. The entry was not made through the gate of the fort, 
but it was stormed on all sides. The four hundred patriots overcame 
the five soldiers, and captured for the American army one hundred 
barrels of powder. This powder, in the first instance, was taken to 
Exeter, and from there distributed among the neighboring towns for 
safety. Part of this powder was sent to the army on the frontier and 



86 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

sold to towns in the province. There is no evidence that any was 
sent to the army at Cambridge until after the battle of Bunker Hill. 

On May 20, 1775, the provincial congress at Exeter " Voted the 
thanks of the convention to the persons who took and secured for the 
use of this government a quantity of gunpowder from Castle William 
and Mary in this province. " After choosing a committee of safety, 
they voted that Nicholas Gilman and Mr. Poor be a committee to sell 
any quantity of gunpowder, not exceeding four barrels, to such frontier 
towns in this province as they shall think most need it. This was the 
first action taken in relation to this powder, and the sale was limited to 
the towns in this province. 

On June 2, 1775, they voted "That the committee on supplies 
be desired to apply and obtain the quantity and quality of the powder 
brought from the Fort William and Mary; also take it into their pos- 
session and lay the state of it before the committee of safety. " 

The committee on supplies, in making their report, found that the 
powder remaining at that date was stored in the following named 
places, viz. : Kingston, twelve barrels ; Epping, eight barrels ; Pop- 
lin, four barrels : Nottingham, eight barrels ; Brentwood, six barrels ; 
Londonderry, one barrel ; Exeter, twenty-nine barrels in eleven dif- 
ferent houses. Four barrels were furnished to Portsmouth on the re- 
quest made in April, 1775. They found stored in these different 
places seventy-two barrels, but none of it was reported as being at 
Durham. 

The first powder sent to the army at Cambridge, at least in any 
quantity, was on June 18, the next day after the battle of Bunker 
Hill. On the day of the battle express was sent from the army to the 
committee at Exeter; he stopped on his way at Kingston, where 
Col. Josiah Bartlett resided, one of the committee. He imme- 
diately ordered a general meeting of the committee, and on the 
1 8th Colonel Bartlett wrote to General Folsom saying: "Mr. More- 
ton left Cambridge on the evening of June 17, and rode all 
night, arriving at Kingston the 18th. He brought the news of 
the battle of Bunker Hill." The committee immediately ordered the 
selectmen of Kingston, where some of the captured powder was 
stored, to deliver to Samuel Philbrick six barrels of powder, to be 
by him conveyed to the army. They also ordered Major Cilley and 
the companies of Captains Elkins, Rowe, Clough, Adams, Titcomb, 
Gilman, Wentworth, Tilton, and Norris, of Colonel Poor's regiment, 
to march to Cambridge to join the army. All the companies except 
Captain Elkins's started for Cambridge. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 87 

June 21 there was sent to the army by Nathaniel Gordon one 
cask flints, quantity 3,200; five kegs bullets, weight 113, 110,62, 
123, 220 pounds each; thirty tents, poles, pins, etc., ten barrels of 
powder, 100 pounds each. 

June 23 " the selectmen of Newmarket were directed" to send by 
Nicholas Nichols four barrels of the provincial gunpowder now in 
their custody to be dealt out as the public service may require. On 
this order they received only one barrel, and on the 26th of June 
they received one more barrel. 

On June 26 Lieutenant Bartlett was directed to pick out two of the 
largest, strongest, and best cannon taken from Fort William and 
Mary and convey them to Exeter to be sent to the army at Medford. 

August 7, 1775, tne committee of safety issued an order to Major 
Cilley, as follows : 

" Sir : You are desired as soon as possible to apply to the select- 
men of the several towns in this colony with whom was lodged the 
powder taken last winter from Fort William and Mary, take an 
account of what is now in their custody, and request of them forth- 
with to convey the whole to Col. Nicholas Oilman at Exeter. 1 ' 

It may have found its way into the powder house at Exeter, and 
we find no further record of this particular powder until the report of 
the committee, made August 24, that they had on hand only eight or 
ten barrels. 

The call of General Washington was made upon August 4 for 
powder, and General Sullivan reported to General Washington that 
he had of powder furnished by New Hampshire to his troops nine- 
teen barrels of one hundred pounds each. Sixteen barrels of this 
were doubtless the six sent from Kingston and ten from Exeter. 

Fort William and Mary was not again occupied by any English 
soldiers. On May 30, 1775, while the English man-of-war Scar- 
borough was seizing vessels loaded with salt and provisions to be sent 
to General Gage's army, thirty or forty men from the vessel came 
ashore and tore clown the greater part of the breastworks. The day 
before, the Scarborough had seized a vessel loaded with provisions, 
and refused to deliver it up, and on this refusal between rive and six 
hundred men in arms went down to the battery called Jerry's Point 
.and brought off eight cannon, 22- and 32-pounders, all there were 
there, and brought them to Portsmouth. 

Though foreign to the purpose of this address, I feel justified in 
saying in conclusion, the men who conducted the civil affairs of 
the province of New Hampshire had not their superiors in America. 



88 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

No colony contained a more patriotic and liberty-loving people, and 
none furnished to the army a grander man, an abler general, than that 
man who went from New Hampshire; the " Demosthenes v who 
inspired patriotism by his eloquence ; the commander who stood by 
the side of the great Washington ; the orator, the statesman, the 
jurist, the warrior — Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan; and not until one 
hundred years have passed away since he laid off his armor and 
went to sleep with his fathers, was the effort made to erect a monu- 
ment to his memory. 

Others who were less conspicuous in their country's service have 
been remembered by state and nation. The hero of Bennington 
stands in bronze to guard the entrance to our state capitol ; his eques- 
trian statue is, we trust, to adorn the spot where rest his hallowed 
remains on the banks of our beautiful Merrimack ; and the halls of 
our national capitol have received another statue of Gen. John Stark. 

While we would not pluck one leaf from the laurel encircling the 
brow of our own hero, would it not have been quite as appropriate in 
the selection of the statue for the national capitol to have placed 
there one of him who sat in that first congress and by his eloquence 
called forth the patriotic sons of America? 

Himself 

" Leaping from slumber, to the light 
For freedom and for chartered right." 

The state and nation should unite in the erection of a monument 
that would by its grandeur symbolize the services rendered by Gen. 
John Sullivan. 

When completed, what more appropriate inscription could be 
carved upon its tablet than the words uttered by himself in a letter 
from his camp on Winter Hill to the committee at Exeter, when 
political generals were using their utmost endeavors to injure his 
reputation and destroy his influence? He said : 

" I call heaven and earth to witness, that thus far the good of my 
country has been my only aim. 

'•No private friendship or private quarrels shall take hold of my 
public conduct. 

" I wish we could leave our private resentments in our closets when 
we are acting in public capacities, and consider only the means of 
promoting our country's good. 

" I must observe that when they feel motives similar to those which 
actuated me at the time, malice will cease to reign in their bosoms, 
and envy learn to be silent." 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 89 

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM GENERAL SULLIVAN 
TO THE COMMITTEE AT EXETER. 

Winter Hill, March 24, 1776. 
Honorable Gentlemen : 

I have an account presented me by Captain Tilton, agreeable to 
the direction of General Folsom, for payment of seventeen pounds 
twelve shillings and sixpence. 

It consists of six articles : One bill is nine pounds ten shillings, 
for boarding Artillerymen sent from the Army to your assistance, and 
remained there three weeks without wages, and were carried there and 
brought back at my expense. The next is two pounds ten shillings 
and eleven pence, for Major alley's expenses ; he was by the com- 
mittee of safety appointed and detained as Muster-master for your 
troops, and I supposed you would make no difficulty in paying his 
-expenses. The next is one pound eleven shillings and one penny, for 
the expenses of Mr. Nathaniel McClintock, appointed my Aid-de- 
Camp, while present, and remained as a volunteer with your forces 
at the request of your commanding officer when I was absent, and 
was very useful to him ; and his bill if paid, would not amount to the 
wages of a private soldier for the time he tarried. The next bill is 
for seventeen shillings and nine pence, expenses of the Captain of 
the Riflemen, sent there without my knowledge or consent, with a 
company to assist you if necessary. To crown the whole, is a bill of 
four shillings and sixpence, expended in securing the Tories in your 
capital when the enemy appeared off your harbor, when I was at head- 
quarters and knew nothing of the matter. 

This, gentlemen, is a state of the account handed me for pay- 
ment, and which I am ready to pay in case you think a single article 
ought to be paid by me. 

Gentlemen, I am extremely sorry to find a person pretending so 
much patriotism as Mr. Folsom does, ever striving to give me pain 
and uneasiness, and this without the least provocation on my part. 
Every day do I hear of his insulting and abusive language, such as he 
well knows he dare not use if I were present. Every step he takes 
is pregnant with malice against me ; and I am sorry to hear his 
malicious endeavors have but too great weight on some other minds ; 
and by means of that I am daily censured in your cabinet ; and for 
what, I know not. 

I now appeal to you all, and call upon you to give one instance 
where I have made money at the expense of my country, or where I 
have usurped a greater power than was at first delegated to me. What 
relations have I promoted, or what part of my family have I enriched ? 
Which of my former friends have I promoted, or which of my former 
enemies have I persecuted with unrelenting fury? No, gentlemen, 
my motives are of a different kind ; no private friendship or private 
quarrels shall take hold of my public conduct. 



90 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

/ call heaven and earth to witness that thus far the good of 
my country has been my only aim. This I have endeavored to evince 
by my conduct. 

Consider, gentlemen, what sums of money I have already ex- 
pended, and how many days I have hailed, clad with new and threat- 
ening dangers to my life ; how I have refrained from the seat of 
domestick happiness, and, confined by my country's cause at a distance, 
heard the fatal tidings of sickness and death in my own family while 
I was contemplating my own dangers here. 

Can all this be, gentlemen, and yet I not be in earnest? And 
shall he who basks in the sunshine of malice, and sleeps serenely in 
the bed of revenge, set my own friends, my fathers in political life, 
against me? Let gratitude, let pity forbid it; and let the heavenly 
justice take hold on the wretch whose sordid soul could never harbor 
a thought but that of gratifying his own malicious disposition, or 
bringing about his own promotion. 

I most earnestly pray that heaven may judge between us, and 
reward him that is insincere with infamy and disgrace. 

I know, gentlemen, that some of you thought it a great stretch 
of power in me to select officers for a new regiment out of those you 
sent before. Let the enclosed paper witness that justice of the 
choice, and the confidence General Washington has placed in the 
field officers of that regiment, by trusting them with the most impor- 
tant posts, (never before entrusted to militia regiments), witness in 
favor of my judgment. Sure I am that those persons have not in 
private life been my intimate friends — nay, some of them my most 
inveterate foes ; but I wish we could leave our private resentments in 
our closets when we are acting in public capacities, and consider only 
the means of promoting our country 'j good. 

Surely, by my having the choice of thirty-one sets of officers 
who had been under my immediate inspection, 1 could have a much 
better opportunity of selecting eight good ones than you who were 
not here and could not know how they behaved. I made the choice, 
and the officers have done honour to themselves and the Province, 
and differ exxeedingly from some of the Captains sent here before, 
who could neither sign a return nor give a receipt for the money they 
received at Head-Quarters, but by making their marks. 

Letters from Senators Chandler and Gallinger and 
Congressmen Blair and Baker were read, expressing 
regret at their inability to be present. 

On motion of George B. Chandler of Manchester,, 
the thanks of the society were tendered to all who had 
contributed to the pleasure of the meeting. 

The Finance Committee was authorized to audit the 
accounts of the society. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 91 

The President was authorized to appoint delegates to 
the national congress to be held April 30, 1894. 

The matter of a field day was left in the hands of the 
Board of Managers. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., October 3, 1894. 

A meeting of the Board of Managers of the New- 
Hampshire Society of Sons of the American Revolution 
was held on the above date in the office of the Secre- 
tary at 2 o'clock p. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and 

Frank W. Russell, Plymouth, 

Walter S. Baker, Concord, 
George H. Silsby, " 

Arthur W. Silsby, 
Frank J. Pillsbury, " 

John H. Oberly, " 

Ned G. English, Lisbon, 

George A. Worcester, Milford, 

George H. Wallingford, Claremont, 

Daniel C. Roberts, Concord, 
Brian C. Roberts, " 

Elisha R. Brown, Dover, 

JosephS. Bixbv, Lynn, Mass., 

were admitted to membership. 



92 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Voted that Sarah F. Silsby be advised to send her 
application to the New Hampshire Society of Daughters 
of the American Revolution. 

On motion of W. W. Bailey it was voted that the 
President, Secretary, and George C. Gilmore be a 
committee to consider the revision of the constitution, 
and report at the next meeting. 

On motion of George C. Gilmore it was voted that 
Henry O. Kent be invited to deliver an address at the 
next annual meeting, with the privilege of selecting his 
own subject. 

On motion of William W. Bailey it was voted that 
the President be authorized to invite Mrs. Adelaide 
Cilley Waldron to deliver a poem at the next annual 
meeting, and, in case she declines, to procure a substi- 
tute. 

On motion of William W. Bailey it was voted that 
George C. Gilmore, Thomas Cogswell, and Charles B. 
SpofFord be a committee to make arrangements for the 
next annual meeting. 

The President was authorized to invite the ladies' 
societies to attend that meeting. 

Voted that the board recommend to the members of 
Concord the proper dedication of the stone to be placed 
in the East Concord cemetery. 

Voted that the Secretary prepare and issue to each 
town a circular calling for the names, organizations, 
etc., of Revolutionary soldiers buried in the respective 
town cemeteries. 

The President read a letter from the Secretary- 
General in regard to medals for competitive essays on 
Revolutionary history. 

Voted that the President examine into the matter and 
report at the annual meeting. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 93 

Voted that the President and Thomas Cogswell be a 
committee to confer with Senators Chandler and Gal- 
linger in regard to national legislation for marking the 
graves of Revolutionary soldiers. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., October 29, 1894. 

Several Concord members of the New Hampshire 
Society of Sons of the American Revolution met at 
the Eagle Hotel on the above date at 2 p. m., whence 
they proceeded to East Concord to dedicate a memorial 
stone presented by Miss Annie M. Phelps of Brook- 
line, Mass. 

[The following account of the proceedings of the 
day is taken from the Concord Evening Monitor of 
October 30, 1894. — Ed.] 

The substantial granite tablet which has been placed at the Old 
Fort cemetery at East Concord, and which tells to the world that 
within the sacred precincts of that burial yard rests the mortal remains 
-of several Revolutionary patriots, was dedicated with appropriate 
ceremonies Monday afternoon. 

A good sized party from the city went over in the barge pro- 
vided for the occasion. One and all first made their way to the site 
of the memorial stone and spent the few moments in examining and 
admiring its simple beauties. It is a massive granite block seven 
feet in length and nearly four and one half feet high. Its polished 
face bears the following inscription : 



94 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Timothy Bradley, Reuben Kimball, 
Philbrick Bradley, 1731 — 1814. 

1756 — 1840. Mellen Kimball, 
Moses Eastman, 1761 — 1834. 

1732 — 1812. Simeon Locke, 
Joseph Eastman, 1756 — 1836. 

1738 — 181 5. Anthony Potter, 
Jonathan Eastman, 1755 — 1826. 

1746 — 1834. John Thompson, 

Nathaniel Eastman, Joshua Thompson, 

1755 — 1 &39- aide to Lafayette, 

David Eastman, 1750 — 1831. 

1762 — 1824. 

This Tablet Erected in Behalf of 

Matilda Hutchins Phelps, by Annie M. Phelps. 

— 1894— 

The memorial is due to the united efforts of two women, Mrs, 
Ruth Eastman Staniels, and Miss Annie M. Phelps of Brookline, 
Mass. Mrs. Staniels, whose span of life has covered more than the 
allotted three-score and ten years, has always taken a great interest in 
historic matters, and especially those relating to East Concord. She 
especially desired that the graves of the Revolutionary patriots might 
be marked by a tablet of some nature. Miss Phelps wished to erect 
some fitting memorial to her mother, who resided at East Concord, 
and she finally decided to erect the splendid memorial which was 
dedicated yesterday. 

At 2 o'clock the party was gathered in Merrimack hall, which was 
well filled with interested spectators and listeners. Charles E. Staniels 
was president of the day, and in opening the ceremonies made the 
presentation address. 

After dwelling at considerable length upon the debt of gratitude 
which our country bears the Revolutionary heroes, and referring to 
the inspiration to patriotism which the society of the Sons of the 
Revolution exerts, Mr. Staniels said: 

"It is fitting, then, that the memorial which we are called upon 
to-day to solemnly dedicate, should be the result of women's thought 
and care and means. 

" To two women alone, the one, in years almost contemporaneous 
with the beginning of the century and imbued with the spirit of 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 95 

revolutionary ancestry, to conceive and execute, the other, with heart 
loyal to duty and love of country, to generously provide the neces- 
sary means for its accomplishment, are we under lasting obligations 
to-day for this beautiful lesson of patriotism which shall in ages to 
come, to generations yet unborn, have the force of the famous in- 
scription at Thermopylae : ' Passer-by, go say at Sparta, that we 
died here to obey her laws. 1 

"It becomes, sir, my pleasant duty to present to the city of Con- 
cord, through yourself as chief executive and present custodian of 
its interests, this beautiful memorial in the name of the donor, Miss 
Annie M. Phelps of Brookline, Massachusetts. 

"It is hoped and expected that, as one of the landmarks of the 
city, it will be preserved and cherished for the lesson it conveys, that 
its influence will be more than local, inspiring to patriotism, love of 
liberty and native land, even unto the remotest generation." 

Mayor P. B. Cogswell replied in behalf of the city, accepting the 
memorial in the following words : 

.)//'. President; It gives me much pleasure, as the official repre- 
sentative of the city of Concord, to receive and accept in its behalf, 
from you, as the President of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of 
the American Revolution, the beautiful mural tablet which has been 
so fittingly placed in memory of the Revolutionary soldiers who sleep 
their last sleep in Old Fort cemetery. No equal area of soil in New 
Hampshire, enclosed as a burial place, contains the mortal remains of 
so many Revolutionary patriots as does the cemetery which we have 
visited to-day. It should be a matter of interest to every loyal son 
and daughter of this section of our city to faithfully guard and pro- 
tect that historic ground, and to adorn and beautify it with flowers, 
plants, and shrubbery, to the latest period of time. 

It is especially gratifying to me, as I doubt not it is to all present, 
to know that the labor of love which found expression in this endur- 
ing tablet of stone, dedicated to the memory of the Revolutionary 
fathers of this hamlet, was performed by two women who are lineal 
descendants of Revolutionary soldiers who served faithfully in the 
long struggle for the independence of the United States of America, 
which began at Bunker Hill and ended at Yorktown. I am sure 
nothing but the earnest, patriotic fervor of daughters descended from 
Revolutionary sires could have planned and executed so successfully 
as has been done this memorial to the honored dead, whose ashes 



96 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

made hallowed ground of yonder historic site, overlooking the beau- 
tiful valley of the Merrimack, and kissed, morning and evening, by 
the rising and setting sun. 

I can assure you, and the society you represent, that it is a pleasant 
duty devolved upon the officials of this city to-day, and I trust so for 
many generations to come, to care for and preserve this memorial 
stone as a perpetual object lesson in patriotism, reminding all be- 
holders of the valor of the Bradleys, Eastmans, Kimballs, Thomp- 
sons, Locke and Potter, who comprised the Revolutionary fathers of 
this earliest settled section of our goodly town of Concord. 

HON. J. B. WALKER'S ADDRESS. 

During the last week I have read over and over again the thirteen 
names inscribed on yonder tablet of enduring stone. Were I in the 
midst of the Lybian desert, or in densest London, surrounded by 
5,000,000 of people, and that list were presented to me with the 
inquiry, where, a hundred years ago, might those men have been 
found, I should answer unhesitatingly, at Concord, N. H., on "the 
East Side, v two Bradleys, five Eastmans, two Kimballs, one Locke, 
one Potter, and two Thompsons. Where else in the wide world, 
except at East Concord, could one think of looking for them? 

We are here to-day to render them the tribute of our gratitude and 
respect. Who were they, and what have they done? They were 
soldiers of our Revolutionary war, say you? So were the Hessians, 
whom George III hired at a set price per head to aid him in his 
attempted enthrallment of our fathers. So, too, were the British 
regulars ; stupid, stubborn, and brave servants of a master equally 
stupid, stubborn, and brave. But while these thirteen men were 
soldiers they were not hirelings, they were not instruments of 
tyranny ; they were more than soldiers, they were patriots and re- 
spected and self-respecting citizens as well. 

All but four of them were young men less than thirty years of age 
when the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. They were plain men, 
conscientious, intelligent, thoughtful. Most or all of them were 
farmers who owned the soil they cultivated. Each of them loved 
justice well enough to expose his farm to confiscation and his neck to 
the halter in its defense. They made their own history, but others 
have recorded it. 

If you will examine the yellow records of our Revolutionary 
period, you will find the names of two of the eldest of them upon a 
remonstrance against the barbarities of the Boston Port Bill and 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 97 

King George's attempt at taxation without representation. Timothy 
Bradley wrote his name at the very head of the column, and not far 
below it Reuben Kimball wrote his. The signers of that remon- 
strance boldly said, "From henceforth we will suspend all commer- 
cial intercourse with the said island of Great Britain, until the parlia- 
ment shall cease to enact laws imposing taxes upon the colonies 
without their consent, or until the pretended right of taxing is 
dropped." 

For sixteen years the New Hampshire provincial assembly, acting 
in the interest of the proprietors of Bow, reasserted the right of taxa- 
tion without representation, and because the citizens withheld assent 
to it they were allowed no town government. There is a blank in 
our records from 1749 to 1765. Yet, during all that period, good 
order prevailed in Concord. With no law to compel them so to do, 
its citizens voluntarily kept the peace. They raised money to keep 
in repair their roads, to maintain their schools, and to sustain the 
public worship of God. I have in my possession a list, made at the 
time, of what each one paid towards the town minister's support for 
the year ending May 26, 1758. The five oldest of these thirteen 
men, of their own free will, contributed as follows: Timothy Bradley, 
^15. 12s. 6d. ; Jonathan Eastman and Amos, £2. 19s. id.; Joseph 
Eastman, £11. 2s. id.; Moses Eastman, £7. 17s. 3d. ; and Reuben 
Kimball, £8. 18s. iod. The others were young men, and their con- 
tributions were merged probably with those of their parents. There 
were 109 names upon that list, and the aggregate amount of the 
several assessments was ^475- J 5 S - 7d. Of this, these five con- 
tributed ^46. 9s. 9d., about one tenth of the whole, and doubtless 
their full share. 

During the Revolutionary war there were more or less Tories in 
almost every community, and it became desirable in 1776 to know 
for a certainty who they were. Upon the recommendation of the 
Continental congress, a declaration of loyalty to the patriot cause 
was sent by the New Hampshire committee of safety to each New 
Hampshire town for the signatures thereto of all male persons of or 
over twenty-one years of age, to be returned, when signed, to the 
general assembly, or to the colonial committee of safety. 

This declaration read as follows: "We, the subscribers, do 
hereby solemnly engage and promise, that we will, to the utmost of 
our Power, at the Risque of our Lives and Fortunes, with Arms 
oppose the Hostile Proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies 
against the United American Colonies." 



98 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

I am happy to say that this declaration bears the names of one 
hundred and fifty-six citizens of Concord, and that not a single per- 
son was returned as "disaffected," although a few were suspected of 
unfriendliness to the patriot cause. I am also happy to say that every 
one of the thirteen whose memories we honor to-day, who were then 
of adult age, signed that declaration. 

Such, impartial history tells us, were the thirteen men we have 
assembled here to honor, plain farmers, men of families, possessed 
of respectable estates, American citizens as well as soldiers, thought- 
ful, honest men and patriots. Their muskets carried ideas, conscien- 
tiously rammed down, as well as bullets. They made a good record. 
Honor to their memories ! 

I am glad that it entered into the hearts of Miss Phelps and Mrs. 
Ruth Eastman Staniels to erect this monument to the memory of 
these brave men. The passer-by will read it and be reminded of the 
cost of the liberty which he enjoys. The children of the school near 
by will read it, and learn that but for efforts such as these made, the 
stars and stripes would not now float above their house. The 
stranger, sauntering about this village, will read it, and say to him- 
self, these are a worthy people, for they honor their heroic dead. 

I am here, Mr. Chairman, not only because I was invited to be 
present, not only because I am a Son of the Revolution, but for 
another and a stronger reason as well. I have been taught from my 
earliest years to love and revere the memory of Concord's first 
minister. These thirteen men and their families were a part of his 
people. He went in and out among them. He loved them and they 
returned his love. He united them in marriage, he baptized their 
children, he buried their beloved dead. My relationship to him 
accounts largely for my presence on this occasion. I am sure I am 
right when I sav that, were he here to-day. he would most heartily 
commend your filial and patriotic effort. 

HON. AMOS HADLEY'S ADDRESS. 

Historic memorials, such as yonder monument, here dedicated to- 
day, attest that the patriotic spirit of the fathers still lives in the 
children. Such monuments honor the meritorious dead. They 
honor, too. the grateful living, manifesting, as they do, that pious 
reverence for noble doing which finds its natural growth in the "good 
ground" of noble hearts. Moreover the hallowed memories thereby 
sown upon the general mind tend to spring up in harvests of right 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 99 

thought and action. "Go thou and do likewise" is from all such 
mementoes the impressive injunction of the departed past to the pass- 
ing present. 

As we have already heard, woman's patriotic zeal has led in the 
inception and execution of the enterprise which the present occasion 
celebrates, and which is to rescue to due remembrance the names of 
thirteen Revolutionary heroes, which otherwise "obscure fame 11 
would have concealed. Indeed, with more propriety, perhaps, it may 
be said that the undertaking has been entirely that of two earnest, 
noble-hearted women ; conceived and worked out by one with sum- 
mer vigor of life still green, despite her more than four-score winters, 
and carried out, in filial affection and the enthusiasm of more youth- 
ful years, to desired completion, by the enlightened financial gener- 
osity of the other. To these congenial spirits, in their faithful, 
patriotic achievement, is due the grateful acclaim of all who revere the 
heroic fortitude that won our nation's independence. 

The pages of our country's history glow with bright examples of 
woman's patriotic purpose and brave self-sacrificing heroism in the 
days that tried men's souls. 

We are told how Esther Reed, the model wife of Pennsylvania's 
governor, with Sarah Bache, Franklin's noble daughter, spent her 
delicate strength to clothe her country's defenders ; even contribut- 
ing her jewels for soldiers' shirts, and, with powers overtaxed, falling 
into her grave at thirty-four. 

We are told how Catharine Green. Lucia Knox, and Martha Wash- 
ington spent, with their husbands, the dreadful winter at Valley 
Forge, shedding the light of hope and faith on all around them in that 
darkest hour of the Revolution. 

We are told how Catharine Schuyler, the most accomplished lady 
of her time, while "cherishing the social virtues of her distinguished 
husband, and adding lustre to his fame," yet, with characteristic 
" spirit, firmness and patriotism,*' and in obedience to her husband's 
injunction, could and did set fire with her own delicate yet strong- 
hand, to his broad wheat fields, all ripe for harvest, so that they 
might not be reaped to nourish Burgoyne's beleagured army at Sara- 
toga. We are told how Rebecca Motte, whose fair new mansion, on 
the bank of the Congaree, had been seized by her country's foes and 
held as a fort, when informed that only by the destruction of her 
house could the enemy be dislodged, assented with a cheerful smile, 
and declared that "she was gratified with the opportunity of con- 
tributing to the good of her country, and should view the approaching 



100 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

scene with delight. 1 ' And that scene she soon did thus view, having 
herself provided a sure bow, whose arrows, bearing balls of blazing 
rosin and brimstone, should compel the enemy's surrender in the 
conflagration of her pleasant home. 

We are told, too, of Dicey Langston and her fearless words — 
" Shoot me if you dare ! I will not tell you ! " — with the Tory cap- 
tain's pistol at her breast, as in vain he attempted to extort informa- 
tion to the detriment of her country's cause. 

And now, in the last of historic instances here to be cited, we have 
Catharine Steele, amid her own bitter trials and the despair of her 
Catawba neighbors, repeating her simple, but sublime words of hope, 
«« We are in the right." 

Thus it was, that, in the language of another, "Woman's high 
truth and heroic devotion poured a solemn radiance over the dreary 
and appalling scenes of civil war." And would it not be so again ? 
Indeed, has it not been so already, in the great struggle in which the 
nation, brought forth in revolution, wrested salvation from rebellion? 
Yes, and it will be so again, should — which heaven avert — the dread 
occasion ever come. And may we not, in view of the praiseworthy 
spirit manifested, even quite at hand and in the living present, rejoice 
with becoming pride in the belief that, to-day, " the women of the 
Revolution" still live? 

In this spirit of '76, this spirit of true patriotism, American liberty 
and national existence find an indispensable muniment. In this 
spirit the nation was born; in it, "with a new birth of freedom," 
the nation has once been saved ; in it is a guaranty of the nation's 
perpetuity. 

Well is it that yon monument has been reared in this spirit of 
patriotism, to stand as a perpetual inspirer of the same spirit. And 
so may its great and sacred import be duly appreciated ; for to the 
passer-by, "who hath an ear to hear," it says and shall say, as if 
speaking for the honored dead whose names it bears inscribed, " Save 
and perpetuate the boon for which we fought." 

Col. Thomas Cogswell was called upon for remarks. He told of 
his interest in the village, where thirty years ago he taught school, and 
from which place he went to join the Union forces. Besides this, 
eight ancestors in the Revolution would interest him in an occasion 
like that of the afternoon. It is a mystery how men as widely 
scattered could leave all and go to the front. It was more of a hard- 
ship than when, in later years, we both went with and left behind so 



SONS OP THE AMEEICAN REVOLUTION. 101 

many friends. The memorial is a credit to the ladies whose generosity 
has placed it in the city's possession, and as long as the world shall 
stand it will not only mark the graves of the thirteen heroes, but 
perpetuate the spirit of those who fought and died for their country. 

Hon. John H. Oberly made some interesting remarks, touching 
upon the fact that not alone by this monument would we remember 
those patriots. This whole country stands as a memorial to them. 
They it was who taught the new idea that power existed in the 
people and was handed to the ruler, instead of being the birthright 
of the ruler to be tyrannously exerted for his own benefit. 

Judge B. E. Badger was the closing speaker. He referred to his 
Revolutionary ancestry, and thought that no richer legacy could be 
handed down than those honored names, names which will last as 
long as the nation shall exist. 

Among the company were the donor, Miss Annie M. Phelps of 
Brookline, Mass., her brother-in-law, Francis E. Page, of the same 
city, Mrs. Ruth E. Staniels, Frank H. Daniell of Franklin, Hon. 
George C. Gilmore of Manchester, Chandler Eastman, Alderman 
F. P. Curtis, John E. Frye, Charles E. Staniels, of East Concord, 
Hon. John M. Hill, Hon. John Kimball, Hon. John C. Ordway, 
Hon. Joseph B. Walker, Hon. J. H. Oberly, Hon. Thomas Cogs- 
well, Capt. James Miller, U. S. A., and wife, Edson C. Eastman, 
Rev. Howard F. Hill, George H. A. Williams, of Concord, Alderman 
Emery of Penacook, Mayor P. B. Cogswell, Col. E. S. Nutter. 



Concord, N. H., February i, 1895. 

A meeting of the Board of Managers was held at 
the Pension Office on the above date at 11 a. m. 
The meeting was called to order by the President. 
Proceeded to the consideration of applications, and 

Harry M. Cheney, Lebanon, 

Frank W. Rollins, Concord, 

Stephen S. Jewett, Laconia, 

Charles H. Greenleaf, Boston, Mass., 



102 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Harry R. Cressy, Concord, 

Charles S. Hill, Concord, 

Eugene W. Rolfe, Tunbridge, Vt., 

Guy S. Rix, Concord, 

Charles E. B. Roberts, Hazel Run, Minn., 

George W. Abbott, Penacook, 

J. Walcott Thompson, Hanover, 

James Minot, Concord, 

were elected members of this society. 

On motion of Otis G. Hammond it was -voted to ap- 
prove the action of the President in introducing into the 
legislature a resolution relating to the displaying of for- 
eign flags on public buildings. 

The meeting then adjourned to the call of the Presi- 
dent. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, February 12, 1895. 

A meeting of the Board of Managers was held at the 
Pension Office in Concord on the above date at 11 
o'clock A. M. 

The meeting was called to order b} r the President. 

On motion of Otis G. Hammond it was voted that 
the annual meeting, required by constitution to be held 
on the second Wednesday in April, be adjourned to the 
third Wednesday in April next. 

On motion of George C. Gilmore it was voted that 
the President invite William J. Tucker, president of 
Dartmouth College, to deliver the address at the annual 
meeting, and that in case he declines, Daniel Hall of 
Dover be invited. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 103 

On motion of Otis G. Hammond it was voted to have 
a banquet at the annual meeting, and that the committee 
of arrangements be authorized to arrange for the same. 

On motion of Charles B. Spoffbrd it was voted that 
Howard L. Porter, Capt. James Miller, U. S. A., John 
M. Hill, and John C. Ordway, be the reception com- 
mittee. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications, and 

Fred G. Hartshorn, Manchester, 

Charles P. Bancroft, Concord, 
Arthur H. Chase, " 

William M. Chase, 

Frank C. Churchill, Lebanon, 

were admitted to membership. 
The meeting then adjourned. 
A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., April 2, 1895. 

A meeting of the Board of Managers was held at 
the Pension Office in Concord on the above date at 
11 o'clock A. M. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

The Secretary, for the committee appointed by the 
board for that purpose, presented a new draft of a 
constitution and by-laws for the society. 

On motion of W. W. Bailey it was voted that the 
draft be accepted and reported to the society at the 
annual meeting, April 17. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications, and 



104 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



John B. Smith, 
Eugene S. Head, 
Christopher H. Wells, 
Frank A. Colby, 
John R. Cogswell, 
William W. Flint, 
Isaac Hill, 

William H. Greenleaf, 
Edwin F. Garland, 
William B. Handy, 
Charles H. Carpenter, 
Lyford A. Merrow, 
Charles T. Huntoon, 

were admitted to membership. 
The meeting then adjourned. 
A true record, attest, 



Hillsborough, 

Hooksett, 

Somersworth, 

Berlin, 

Warner, 

Concord, 

Concord, 

Nashua, 

Nashua, 

Boston, Mass.. 

Chichester, 

Ossipee, 

Concord, 



Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING, 1895. 

Concord, N. H., April 10, 1895. 

The annual meeting of the New Hampshire Society 
of Sons of the American Revolution was held at the 
office of the President in Concord on the above date at 
11 o'clock A. M. 

No quorum being present the meeting was adjourned 
to April 17. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 

[This meeting was adjourned because travelling was 
impossible on account of the floods. — Ed.] 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 105 

Concord, N. H., April 17, 1895. 

The adjourned annual meeting of the New Hamp- 
shire Society of Sons of the American Revolution was 
held in the Senate chamber in Concord on the above 
date at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President, 
and the reading of the records of the last meeting was 
omitted. 

On motion of Howard L. Porter it was voted that 
when the meeting adjourn it be to some day in May, 
and at the call of the President. 

The President then appointed the following as dele- 
gates and alternates to the annual congress to be held 
in Boston, May 1 : 

DELEGATES. 

Charles E. Staniels, President, ex officio. 

John M. Hill, Senior Vice-President, ex officio. 

Jeremiah Smith, at large. 

Thomas Cogswell. 

Capt. James Miller, U. S. A. 

ALTERNATES. 

William W. Bailey. 
Otis G. Hammond. 
Frank W. Rollins. 
Howard L. Porter. 
Sylvester Dana. 

On motion of John M. Hill it was voted that the 
thanks of the society be extended to Oliver Pelren for 
his kindness in cancelling contracts relating to the pro- 
posed banquet without expense to the society. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and 



106 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Cyrus H. Little, Manchester, 

Albert B. Woodworth, Concord, 

Everett B. Huse, Enfield, 

Jeremiah W. Sanborn, Gilmanton, 

Reuben Shepardson, Claremont, 

Byron G. Clark, New York city, 

Allen Wilson, Concord, 

were elected members of the society. 
The meeting then adjourned. 
A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., May 8, 1895. 

The adjourned annual meeting of the New Hamp- 
shire Society of Sons of the American Revolution was 
held in Representatives' hall in Concord on the above 
date at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by President 
Charles E. Staniels. 

The report of the Secretary was read, and it was 
voted that it be adopted and placed on tile. 

SECRETARY'S REPORT 

For the Year Ending April, 1895. 

The last report of the Secretary to the National Society, made in 
April, 1894, showed that we had then 121 members approved by the 
National Society through the Registrar-General. There were, be- 
sides, 25 ladies who had been admitted to membership previous to 
our affiliation with the national body, and 2 gentlemen as honorary 
members ; also several members whose evidence of eligibility was 
not complete. The ladies and honorary members were not recognized 
by the National Society, according to their constitution. Since that 
time all but 5 of the men whose papers were returned as incomplete, 
have furnished the additional evidence required by the Registrar- 
General, and have been admitted into full membership. It is hoped 
that the remaining delinquents will follow their example. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 107 

During the year we have lost by withdrawal 10, of whom 6 were 
ladies; by death 5, Dr. Charles P. Gage of Concord, Isaac K. Gage 
of Boscawen, Herbert P. Rolfe of Great Falls, Mon., William H. 
Straw of Epsom, and Dr. Thomas Wheat of Manchester; by demis- 
sion 1, Henry A. Cutter of Nashua, who wished to transfer his 
membership to the Massachusetts society; total loss 16, of whom 9 
were members in full standing, approved by the National Society. 

We have admitted during the year 64 new members, making a net 
gain of 55. 

The present membership is 202, consisting of 176 approved by 
the National Society, 26 not approved by the National Society, of 
whom 19 are ladies, 2 honorary members, Henry W. Herrick and 
David Cross, of Manchester, and 5 gentlemen whose evidence of 
eligibility is not satisfactory to the Registrar-General. 

These members not recognized by the National Society were all 
admitted in the days when this was an independent state organization, 
and under no constitutional regulations save its own, and those were 
few and mild. Since becoming a part of the great national body we 
have been obliged to conform to the regulations of the national con- 
stitution in regard to the admission of members, and under them we 
have prospered beyond expectation. Ladies are no longer admitted 
to membership, because, there being a society of Daughters of the 
American Revolution for their particular benefit, the admission of 
ladies to this society would be trespassing on their grounds, an act 
both unnecessary and unjust. No man is now admitted whose appli- 
cation is not approved by the Registrar-General, and the return of an 
application unapproved by the National Society, through him, operates 
as a veto upon the action of our own Board of Managers in admitting 
him ; and, if he cannot complete his evidence, his fee and papers are 
returned to the applicant. These rules are strict, but no more so 
than is absolutely necessary for our own protection. The limits of 
eligibility are broad enough to admit anybody who has a reasonable 
claim, and narrow enough to protect the interests and purposes of the 
organization. A society which would admit everybody would be no 
society at all, for it could not exist. The public is rapidly awakening 
to the interests and objects of this society, as shown by our rapidly 
increasing membership, and this should be doubled during the 
ensuing year. It can easily be done if each member will call the 
attention of his neighbors and fellow-townsmen to the society, and 
this is all that is necessary to secure their applications, if eligible, as 
shown by the efforts of the year past. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



108 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



The report of the Treasurer was read and disposed 
of in like manner. 

TREASURER'S REPORT 

For Year Ending April 17, 1895. 

Receipts. 



From Charles L. Tappan, former Treasurer 






$118.36 


dues for the year ending April, 1893 






8.00 


" " 1894 






29.00 


« 1895 






89.00 


" 1896 






7.00 


admission fees .... 






58.00 


certificates of membership 






41.00 


sale of rosettes .... 






14.50 


sale of badge ..... 






9.00 


Total 


$373-86 


Expenditures. 


For postage and printing ...... $70.32 


dues to National Society .... 




40.00 


certificates of membership .... 




34.00 


services of Secretary .... 




20.00 


rosettes ....... 




15.50 


500 application blanks .... 




12.00 


badge ....... 




9.00 


express ....... 




2.60 


record book and letter files 




3.60 


balance for barge to East Concord dedication 




3-25 


mailing tubes ...... 




1.20 


miscellaneous ...... 




5-23 


Total 


$216.70 


Cash on hand ..... 






157.16 



$373-86 
Respectfully submitted, 

Otis G. Hammond, Treasurer. 

I hereby certify that I have examined the above account and found 

it correct. 

Allan H. Robinson, 

Member of Finance Committee. 
Concord, N. H., May 8, 1895. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 109 

The Secretary, for the Board of Managers, then read 
a draft of a new constitution and by-laws. 

On motion of William W. Bailey it was voted that 
the word " Chaplain" be inserted after the word " His- 
torian" in Article 3 of the constitution. 

On motion of William W. Bailey it was voted that 
the words " and delegates and alternates to the national 
convention" be inserted after the word " year" in Sec- 
tion 1, Article 2, of the by-laws. 

The constitution and by-laws as amended were then 
adopted. 

CONSTITUTION. 

Article i. — Name. 

The name of this organization shall be The New Hampshire 
Society of Sons of the American Revolution, and its objects 
shall be as stated in the Articles of Association. 

Article 2. — Membership. 

Any man shall be eligible to membership in this society, who, being 
of the age of twenty-one years or over, and a citizen of good repute in 
the community, is the lineal descendant of an ancestor who was at all 
times unfailing in his loyalty to, and rendered actual service in, the 
cause of American independence, either as an officer, soldier, seaman, 
marine, militia-man, or minute-man, in the armed forces of the Conti- 
nental Congress or of any one of the several colonies or states ; or as 
a signer of the Declaration of Independence ; or as a member of a 
committee of safety or correspondence ; or as a member of any conti- 
nental, provincial, or colonial congress or legislature ; or as a civil 
officer, either of one of the colonies or states or of the national govern- 
ment ; or as a recognized patriot who performed actual service by 
overt acts of resistance to the authority of Great Britain. 

Article 3. — Officers. 

The officers of this society shall be a President, three Vice-Presi- 
dents, Secretary, Treasurer, Registrar, Historian, Chaplain, a Finance 
Committee of three members, and a Board of Managers of seven 
members besides the President and Secretary, ex ojjiciis, of whom 
three shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. These 



110 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

officers shall be elected by ballot by vote of the majority of the mem- 
bers present at each annual meeting, and shall continue in office for 
the term of one year or until their successors shall be elected. 

Article 4. — Amendments. 

This constitution or the by-laws may be amended at any regular 
meeting of the society, or any special meeting called for that purpose, 
by a three-fourths vote of the members present, provided that notice 
of intended amendment be given in the notification of such meeting. 

BY-LAWS. 

Article i . — Membership. 

Section i . Candidates for membership shall make application in 
due form to the Secretary, and shall become members upon the accept- 
ance of their applications by the Board of Managers, and the pay- 
ment of one dollar to the Secretary, provided, and as soon as, their 
applications be approved by the Registrar-General of the National 
Society. 

Section 2. The annual dues shall be one dollar, payable at the 
annual meeting and not later than the 1st day of September of each 
year. The admission fee shall be considered as payment of dues 
until the next annual meeting following the date of a candidate's ad- 
mission. The payment of twenty dollars shall constitute any member 
a life member, and he shall thereafter be exempt from annual dues. 

Section 3. Any member failing to pay his annual dues for two 
consecutive years shall forfeit his membership upon vote to that effect 
by the Board of Managers. A member so dropped may be reinstated 
by the Board of Managers upon payment of all arrears and all annual 
dues since the date of his loss of membership. 

Section 4. Any member may be dismissed from the society upon 
recommendation of the Board of Managers and a two-thirds vote of 
the members present at any regular meeting of the society. 

Section 5. Any member may resign his membership by notify- 
ing the Registrar in writing, provided his dues are paid to the annual 
meeting next preceding the date of his resignation. 

Section 6. Members in good standing may be transferred to 
another society, and members of other societies, providing their stand- 
ing is good therein, may be received into this society, upon vote of 
the Board of Managers. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Ill 

Article 2. — Meetings and Election of Officers. 

Section i . The annual meeting shall be held at Concord, on the 
19th of April, and when that date shall fall on Saturday, Sunday, 
or Monday, on any date to be fixed by the Board of Managers ; at 
which meeting the officers for the ensuing year, and delegates and 
alternates to the national convention, shall be elected by ballot. At 
all meetings fifteen members shall constitute a quorum, and a majority 
vote shall be sufficient for the election of any officer, or the transaction 
of any business, except as otherwise especially provided. The Secre- 
tary shall notify each member of any meeting, by sending a notice to 
his last known address at least ten days before the date of such 
meeting. 

Section 2. The Board of Managers shall call a special meeting 
of the society upon written request of five members, and may do so at 
such other times as they deem expedient. 

Section 3. No member shall be allowed to vote by proxy. Va- 
cancies in office may be filled by the Board of Managers, such 
appointees to continue in office until the next annual meeting. 

Article 3. — Duties of Officers. 
President. 

Section i. The President, or in his absence the senior Vice- 
President present, or in their absence a chairman pro tempore, shall 
preside at all meetings of the society or Board of Managers. He 
shall preserve order and shall decide all questions of parliamentary 
procedure, subject to appeal to the society or Board of Managers. 
He shall regulate the order of business to be transacted at such meet- 
ting. He, with the Secretary, shall approve all bills, to be paid from 
the treasury of the society. 

Secretary. 

Section 2. The Secretary shall keep accurate records of all meet- 
ings of the society and Board of Managers ; shall notify all members 
and officers of their elections, and shall issue notices of all meetings and 
such other notices as may be required of him by the society or Board 
of Managers. He shall collect all dues and pay the same to the Treas- 
urer, and, with the President, shall approve all bills to be paid out of 
the treasury of the society. He shall receive such salary as may be 
allowed by the Board of Managers. He shall present a report of each 
annual meeting. 



112 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Treasurer. 

Section 3. The Treasurer shall have custody of all the funds of 
the society, and shall pay therefrom all bills against the society 
approved by the President and Secretary, and no others. He shall 
receive from the Secretary and Registrar all money turned over to him 
and shall deposit the same to the credit of the society. He shall 
keep an accurate account of all money received and expended, and 
shall present a report of his transactions at each annual meeting. 

Registrar. 

Section 4. The Registrar shall keep a register of the names and 
dates of election, transfer, resignation, and death, of all members. 
He shall forward to the Registrar-General of the National Society a 
duplicate of all applications for membership within one week after the 
same shall have been accepted by the Board of Managers. He shall 
issue certificates of membership and insignia of the order to members 
entitled thereto, and shall pay all money received therefor to the 
Treasurer. He shall present a report at each annual meeting. 

Historian. 

Section 5. The Historian shall have the custody of all historical 
and genealogical documents belonging to the society. At each annual 
meeting he shall, if possible, present a biographical sketch of all 
members deceased during the previous year. He shall keep accurate 
accounts of all field-day proceedings and shall prepare for publication 
such historical matter as the Secretary may be required to publish. 

Finance Committee. 

Section 6. It shall be the duty of the Finance Committee to 
audit the accounts of the Secretary, Treasurer, and Registrar immedi- 
ately before the annual meeting, and to make report on the same at 
that meeting. They shall properly invest in the name of the society 
such funds as may be placed in their hands for that purpose by the 
Board of Managers, and shall make report on the same to the Board 
or society as often as may be desired by either body. 

Board of Managers. 

Section 7. The Board of Managers shall consider and vote on all 
applications for membership ; shall exercise general supervision over 
the affairs of the society and suggest plans for the promotion of its 
welfare ; shall direct and superintend its finances, and fill all vacancies 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 113 

in office. They shall call special meetings of the society upon written 
request of five members, and at such other times as they may deem 
expedient. The Board shall meet on the second Wednesdays in Jan- 
uary, April, July, and October, and otherwise at the call of the 
President. 

Article 4. — Amendments. 

Section i . These by-laws may be amended conformably to the 
provisions for the amendment of the constitution. 

On motion of William D. Sawyer it was voted to 
proceed to the election of officers, and that the Presi- 
dent appoint a committee of five to nominate a list of 
officers for the ensuing year. 

The President appointed William D. Sawyer, John 
B. Smith, Thomas Cogswell, John Kimball, and Fred 
G. Hartshorn, as such committee. 

On motion of George C. Gilmore it was voted that 
the Board of Managers retire and consider applications 
for membership. 

The Board then retired, and on their return Otis G. 
Hammond, for the Board, reported that the applications 
of the following persons had been accepted : 

Leonard F. Burbank, Nashua, 

Wilbur F. Eastman, Haverhill, 

William C. Green, Concord, 

Harry B. Metcalf, Concord, 

Charles Henry Bartlett, Manchester, 

Will C. Heath, Manchester, 

who were then declared elected. 

Mr. Sawyer, for the committee to nominate officers, 
then appeared and asked for further time, which was 
granted. 

The President then introduced Rev. Daniel C. Rob- 
erts, D. D., who offered prayer, after which the 
President delivered his address. 



114 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 

This should be a day of feasting and prayer ; a day of feasting in 
commemoration of the magnificent material growth, the development 
of popular constitutional government, the magnitude of industries and 
commerce, and the achievements in all that dignifies and enriches indi- 
vidual and social life in the comparatively brief history of this glorious 
country of ours ; — a day of prayer that the cloud, no larger than a 
man's hand, a monitor if not a menace, which never has and never will 
leave our horizon, may not gather to itself the elements of strife, sec- 
tional jealousies, or national complications, which shall burst and over- 
whelm our fair land with internecine disorder. 

Nations, like individuals, are subject to the consequences of caprice 
or impulse with ofttimes dire results. 

When John Adams, afterwards president of the United States, was 
minister to England subsequent to the Revolution, he often saw his 
countryman, Benjamin West, who was at the time president of the 
Royal Academy. It is said that on one occasion Mr. West asked his 
friend if he would not like to take a walk with him and see the cause of 
the American Revolution. 

The minister smiled at the proposal, and accepted the invitation. 
Mr. West conducted Minister Adams to Hyde Park, to a spot near the 
Serpentine river, where he gave him the following narrative : 

"The king, George III, came to the throne a young man, sur- 
rounded by flattering courtiers, one of whose frequent topics it was to 
declaim against the meanness of his palace which they declared was 
wholly unworthy of such a country as England. They said there was 
not a sovereign in Europe lodged so poorly ; that his sorry, dingy old 
brick palace of St. James looked like a stable, and that he ought to 
built a palace suited to his kingdom. The king was fond of archi- 
tecture, and was, therefore, the more ready to listen to suggestions 
which were, in fact, all true." 

"The spot you see here," said Mr. West, "was selected for the 
site, which was duly marked out. The king applied to his ministers 
who inquired what sum would be required by his majesty, who said 
that he would begin with ^1,000,000. They pleaded the expense of 
the war then raging with France and the poverty of the treasury, but 
said that his majesty's wishes should be taken into consideration. Some- 
time afterward the king was informed that the wants of the treasury 
were too urgent to admit of this drain upon its resources, but that a 
revenue might be raised from the American colonies which would sup- 
ply all his wishes." 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 115 

The suggestion was followed up, and the king was in this way led 
to consider, and then consent to, the scheme for taxing the colonies, 
and thus the selfish ambition of one man was met with the cry, " Tax- 
ation without representation, 11 and American patriotism received a 
stimulus which, as a part of our history, will ever be a source of 
national pride. 

History is not made in a day, and bare facts, without collateral 
issues, are misleading. 

Across the still waters of thought come vibrations of half-forgotten 
lore, which, by patient research, become verified and formally fixed. 
When mellowed by time, separated from prejudice, ratified by statis- 
tics, and discussed from well selected premises, we have the most 
reliable conclusions. 

Whatever patriotic associations may not have accomplished, they 
have uncovered the milestones of history and embellished their ra°-o- e d 
sides with tabulated records which shall be object lessons, like the 
ancient inscription at the pass of Thermopylae, to succeeding venera- 
tions. 

I may, perhaps, mention in this connection that while, a few months 
since, a loyal member and a vice-president of the Massachusetts 
society, Capt. Nathan Appleton, was, in the presence of some one 
hundred and fifty of his countrymen, assisting in the annual ceremonies 
of placing an emblem upon the grave of General De Lafayette in 
Paris, including the deposit of a bronze marker and tablet, the em- 
blem of our National Society, the New Hampshire society was pre- 
paring to dedicate a stone in an ancient burying ground in this city 
with an inscription upon its face, that, of the thirteen heroes of the 
Revolution therein interred, one was an aid upon the staff of the 
patriotic Frenchman. 

I am happy to state that through the efforts of our society a part of 
the proceedings of the last legislature, approved by the governor, was 
the passage of a bill prohibiting the use of foreign flags upon state or 
municipal buildings, unless by special proclamation of the governor or 
mayor. and then only in honor of a visiting guest whose country's fla»- 
may temporarily be displayed in his honor. My friends, we have com- 
menced none too early. 

We have been accused of sentimentalism, and why should we repu- 
diate it? 

The Roman eagles were a host in themselves when supported by 
the prestige of the Caesars. The Olympian games made all Greece 
stronger and more masterful, when a simple laurel was prized above 
the products of the mine. 



116 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The American flag should, under God, be revered by every Ameri- 
can citizen and indissolubly associated with hearthstone and fireside, 
wife and children, and all the ties of home and kindred. 

New Hampshire is under undying obligations to that patriotic 
Scotchman, John Paul Jones, who did his adopted country the honor 
of first raising the original flag of the Revolution, and, later, was the 
first to raise the stars and stripes over a sloop of war, the Ranger, at 
Portsmouth in our own state, in the autumn of 1777. This country 
owes him a great debt, for he truly said, " I have ever looked out for the 
Honour of the American Flag. 11 In Ouiberon bay, in February, 1788, 
he received the first direct foreign salute ever given the American flag. 

It was not obtained without some address and boldness on John 
Paul Jones's part, as the alliance between France and the United States 
was not then signed ; but the French admiral paid him the compliment 
of having his guns already manned when Jones sailed through the 
fleet. 

The present governor of Massachusetts has wisely said, " It has 
been said that Waterloo was won on the play grounds at Eton. With 
equal truth it may be said that many a well-fought field, from Baltimore 
to Appomattox, was won on the play grounds of the grammar schools 
of New England, and the spirit of fraternity and patriotism cultivated 
in the studies and sports of boyhood blazed into clearer and warmer 
glow at the bloody angle at Spottsylvania or before the defences of Port 
Hudson. 11 

The display of the American flag upon the school houses of the 
country is the first lesson of American history which shall produce a 
valedictory devoid of romance and theory, and full of the possibilities 
of " One God, one country, and one flag.* 1 

The sentiment which dominates the patriotic societies of this country 
is not that which impelled the invading Gaul to stroke the venerable 
beard of the Roman senate, nor the bravado of the mob which, in the 
early history of our own state, endeavored to intimidate the dignified 
Sullivan and the New Hampshire legislature. 

It is not the spirit of conquest ; neither has it to do with the undignified 
scramble which pertains to the ambition for personal aggrandizement. 
It is rather the better interpretation of the old Gascon cry of "One 
for all and all for one, 11 which with patriotic force calls for the best 
that one has within him, when the more aristocratic exorbitant " noblesse 
oblige 11 may have lost its influence. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 117 

In this society there is but one standard of aristocracy. There are 
no superiors, no subordinates. We all meet upon the platform of a 
common patriotic ancestry, and this little button, or this cross, are in- 
signia to which all are eligible. 

The working man, the professional man, the chief executive of the 
nation or state, all come through the same door, with the same pass- 
word, and without this password, whatever his station, he applies in 
vain. 

Macauley said, " As for America we leave her to the twentieth cen- 
tury." Let us remark here that we have no right to question the 
inference. 

No one who has carefully read the history of our country can deny 
that to Providence alone is due the glory that we have escaped so much, 
and the present danger to the republic is to a greater extent than ever 
an overweening self-confidence without the counter balance of patriotic 
judgment. 

To the coming generation we delegate this great trust. Do you im- 
agine I magnify its importance? What do you think of a Boston 
public school having two thousand one hundred pupils and not an 
American-born child in the lot? Of the number, one thousand are 
Russian, Polish and German Jews, six hundred are Italians, and the 
rest a mixure of Irish, Portuguese, and Scandinavians. 

Upon us then rests an obligation to leave behind us a legacy of pat- 
riotism which shall make our descendants invulnerable to the dangers 
which may assail the life of the nation. 

Let the great ideal be ever before them. That which the fathers 
saved the sons must maintain — not alone the political union of states, 
not only the constitution, the government of the people, but law and 
order, the advancing civilization of the century. 

The courage shown and confidence won by the New England colon- 
ists in their tremendous first successful campaign against the French at 
Louisburg, gave to them the qualities needed later on to win their 
independence. 

"She who bears soldiers need not bear arms; 11 but wives and 
mothers have an influence which, if properly exerted, can assure the 
perpetuity of our government and imbue their descendants with an 
inherited patriotism which shall fire with the narration of the heroism 
of their ancestors as did the Texans when Houston appealed to them 
to recall that splendid example of American daring by crying, 
" Remember the Alamo. 11 



118 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

When someone asked Dr. Holmes '« at what age the education of 
a child ought to begin/'' the genial autocrat replied, " A hundred 
years before it is born" ; and New England history is full of examples 
of the influence of Puritan, sea-faring ancestry, from whom has 
descended a legacy of prudence, resolution, aptitude, determination, 
honesty, and that quality known as grit, which has enabled the men 
of Anglo-Saxon race to gird the world as Englishmen, and to subdue 
and civilize a continent as Americans. 

We have met to-day as the representatives of one great family, 
exclusive only in that we claim consideration as the descendants of 
patriots, yet liberal enough to extend a hand, warm in greeting, to 
every man who, having been born in foreign lands, has within him 
the elements which go to promote good citizenship — who craves for 
his children the highest moral and intellectual standard ; whose sons 
are to stand shoulder to shoulder with our sons for the protection of 
his adopted country, and whose daughters, imbibing the atmosphere 
of liberty as an inspiration, shall teach their children to be loyal to 
those principles for which our government stands. 

Let us teach our children to venerate the flag next to their Creator. 
Let it be associated with everything that is holy. Let us teach them 
that the salute with which they enthusiastically welcome the stars and 
stripes in their daily routine of school duty, carries with it the sense 
of solemn obligation ; that, as they raise their little hands in concert, 
gracefully acknowledging its supremacy, so must they be prepared to 
stand as a unit in defense of its honor. 

The President then introduced Rev. Samuel F. 
Smith, D. D., author of the national hymn, "America," 
who addressed the meeting. 

[The following report of Dr. Smith's words is com- 
piled from the People and Patriot and Concord Even- 
ing Monitor, of May 8, 1895. — Ed.] 

Everybody has heard the remark that New Hampshire was a good 
state to emigrate from, but I feel, as I look over this assemblage, 
that many of that distinguished speaker's fellowmen do not agree 
with him. I can hardly claim a membership in this society, but I 
feel that I am deeply interested because the little woman to whom I 
belong is a direct descendant of a Revolutionary chaplain. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 119 

I have been asked to speak in relation to the composition of 
"America." I have spoken upon the subject before so many audi- 
ences that, to me, it seems almost threadbare. 

In the year 1831, Mr. William C. Woodbridge of New York, a 
rioted educator, was deputed to visit Germany and inspect the system 
of the public schools, in order that if he should find in them any 
features of interest unknown to our public schools here, they might 
be adopted in the schools of the United States. 

He found that in the German schools much attention was given to 
music ; he also found many books containing music and songs for 
children. Returning home he brought several of these music books, 
and placed them in the hands of Lowell Mason, then a noted 
composer, organist, and choir leader. Having himself no knowledge 
of the German language, he brought them to me at Andover, where 
I was then studying theology, requesting me, as I should find time, 
to furnish him translations of the German words, or to write new 
hymns and songs adapted to the German music. 

On a dismal day in February, 1832, looking over one of these 
books, my attention was drawn to a tune which attracted me by its 
simple and natural movement, and its fitness for children's choirs. 
Glancing at the German words at the foot of the page I saw that they 
were patriotic, and I was instantly inspired to write a patriotic hymn 
of my own. 

Seizing a scrap of waste paper I began to write, and in half an hour I 
think the words stood upon it, substantially as they are sung to-day. 
I did not know at the time that the tune was the British " God Save 
the King.' 1 I do not share the regret of those who deem it an evil 
that the national tune of Britain and America is the same. On the 
contrary, I deem it a new and beautiful tie of union between the 
mother and the daughter, one furnishing the music (if, indeed, it is 
really English ), and the other the words. 

I did not propose to write a national hymn. I did not think that I 
had done so. I laid the song aside and nearly forgot that I had made 
it. Some weeks later I sent it to Mr. Mason, and on the following 4th 
of July, much to my surprise, he brought it out at a children's cele- 
bration in Park Street church, in Boston, where it was first sung in 
public. 

Since then my little waif has traveled all over the country. It has 
existed sixty-three years. Many of you found it when you were born, 
and it has been with you through life. I thank God that it has been 



120 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

an incentive to patriotism among the masses. It is a source of 
gratification that the waif has existed so long, and the prophecy that 
it will be sung for thousands of years is very pleasant. God bless 
the children, and may they sing until the millenium, "Our Fathers' 
God, to Thee, Author of Liberty." 

Charles H. Bartlett then delivered the annual address 
on " The Formation of State Government in New 
Hampshire." 

THE FORMATION OF STATE GOVERNMENT IN NEW 

HAMPSHIRE. 

I am aware that a history of the military operations of a people 
engaged in martial conflict for the establishment of national independ- 
ence and civil liberty against a foe of vastly superior numbers and 
more abundant resources, affords a much more inviting theme for the 
thought of the hour than any events pertaining wholly to their civil 
life or industrial development. 

The bustle of the camp, the march of armies, the onset of battle, 
the roar of cannon, the rising and swelling volume of sulphurous 
smoke that shuts out the light of heaven from the supreme tragedy of 
earth — all these possess elements of thrilling interest and excite- 
ment to the imagination which nothing in the annals of peace can 
rival. 

Mankind, in a measure, is given to hero worship, and it finds its 
ideal in him who, with his life in his hands, bares his bosom to the 
missiles of death, and does and dares for country and for liberty on 
the field of battle. 

The name your society bears evidences your close kinship with 
such as these. Pardonable ancestral pride, springing from the rich 
inheritance of patriotism from such an illustrious ancestry, cannot fail 
to be heightened and stimulated by any recital of the story of the 
achievements of the actors in our Revolutionary struggle in the clos- 
ing quarter of the last century, and to you such recitals must ever be 
especially sweet and grateful. 

But that story is no sealed book to you, or to the world at large. 
It is known and read of all men, wherever civil liberty has found an 
anchorage, or patriotism is cherished among mankind. 

The eloquence of the orator, the muse of the poet, the skill of the 
artist, for more than a century have vied with each other to immor- 
talize the fame and emblazon the deeds of the heroes of '76, that the 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 121 

world might be illuminated by their example and stimulated to like 
efforts, to the end that the golden harvest which has sprung from such 
precious seed upon the American continent might wave its tinselled 
plumes under the harvest moon in every clime of the habitable globe. 
In view of considerations of this character, I am led to follow the 
suggestion of one of your number, and devote the hour allotted to 
me upon this occasion to a consideration of the history of the forma- 
tion of the civil government of the state of New Hampshire upon 
her renouncement of allegiance to the mother country and her 
assumption of statehood. 

However important and overshadowing an era of war may appear 
in the history of a nation, we must not forget that peace is the rule 
and war the exception in national experience, and as civilization 
advances the rule broadens and the exceptions grow less and less 
frequent. Modern experience does not justify the Arabian proverb 
that peace is the shadow from the crossing of two swords. 

Prior to the outbreak of hostilities between the English government 
and her American colonies at Lexington and Concord and Bunker 
Hill, there was nothing in the fact that the colonies owed allegiance 
to a foreign power enthroned beyond the sea three thousand miles 
away, that was deemed incompatible with civil liberty and the sacred 
rights of citizenship. 

The spirit of rebellion, which so suddenly overspread the colonies. 
was not excited against a government because, territorially, it was a 
foreign government, but because, and only because, it withheld from 
the citizen those rights of citizenship which the sturdy and liberty- 
loving pioneers of the new world scorned to forego, however formid- 
able the power or relentless the hand that sought the deprivation. 

The early differences between the colonies and the government to 
which they were subject were accompanied by no suggestion or 
thought of separation or change of allegiance. The spirit of loyalty 
was everywhere as strong and manifest as the spirit of patriotism. It 
was nowhere apparently less deeply rooted. 

A redress of grievances, by respectful petition and remonstrance, 
was the common object sought throughout all the colonies. In this 
feeling and purpose the New Hampshire colony fully shared. On 
the 1 2th of January, 1776, a remonstrance was presented to the con- 
vention, protesting against the adoption of a constitution, setting forth, 
among other reasons, "Because it appears tons too much like & setting 
up an independency of the mother country." 



122 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

And the convention itself, in a preamble to the constitution of 
1776, declared as follows: "We conceive ourselves reduced to the 
necessity of establishing a form of government, to continue during 
the present unhappy and unnatural contest with Great Britain ; pro- 
testing and declaring that we never sought to throw off our depend- 
ence on Great Britain ; but felt ourselves happy under her protection 
whilst we could enjoy our constitutional rights and privileges ; and 
that we shall rejoice if such a reconciliation between us and our 
parent state can be effected as shall be approved by the Continental 
Congress, in whose wisdom and prudence we confide." 

This state of the public mind, however, which looked for nothing 
and asked for nothing beyond justice under the crown, was destined 
to be suddenly and ruthlessly shocked by events which the near 
future held in store. 

If the people were resolute and determined, the public spirit was 
nevertheless pacific. The great cause of difference between the 
colonies and the crown is too familiar to justify rehearsal here. The 
first remedy for the correction of wrongs inflicted upon the colonies, 
suggested by the Continental Congress, was what we now denominate 
the boycott. "Non-importation and non-consumption* 1 was their 
phrase, as applied to those articles of commerce that personified the 
hatred and monstrous assumption of the crown of the right of taxa- 
tion without representation. 

For a considerable period prior to the declaration of independence, 
the civil government of New Hampshire, based upon royal authority, 
was little more than a shadow. Governor Wentworth exerted him- 
self to the utmost of his capacity to preserve some semblance of 
authority in the name of his sovereign, but, with all his loyalty, 
prudence, and moderation, he was doomed to see the scepter of 
power fall from his grasp as from a palsied hand, even before the spirit 
of independence had taken root in the land. 

But however pacific the purpose of the people, however ardent 
the desire and strong the hope that justice could be secured to the 
colonies under the crown and without the disturbance of governmental 
relations, "the shot heard round the world" gave birth to independ- 
ence, and though for a time not fully recognized, henceforth liberty 
and independence walked hand in hand, until solidified and crystallized 
into the American Union. 

The atmosphere of New Hampshire had become so uncongenial to 
the royal governor that in June, 1775, he retired from the colony and 
took up his abode in Boston. Only once more did he attempt 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 123 

to exercise any executive function in New Hampshire. In September 
of that year he came to the Isles of Shoals and issued a proclamation 
adjourning the convention until April, 1776, but it was an idle and 
fruitless journey, for the proclamation might as well have been given 
to the winds in Boston as at the Isles of Shoals, for its effect never 
reached the mainland. ^ 

For ninety-five years prior to this date the colony had received its 
laws, under the authority of the crown, as a separate and independent 
colony. The form of government was simple. A president or 
governor, and council, appointed by the king, and an assembly, chosen 
by the electors, comprised the governmental machinery. 

The assembly answered to the parliament of the home government, 
and directly reflected the will of the people, while the appointed 
chief magistrate and council as directly voiced the will and pleasure 
of the crown. All acts of the assembly were subject to the approval 
of the chief magistrate and council thus appointed, and, when thus 
approved, remained in force until the pleasure of the king should be 
ascertained. 

In granting the privileges of an assembly to the people, the king 
was careful to limit the continuance of that feature of the government 
to his own pleasure, but it was as liberal in form as the colony had any 
reason to expect or right to ask, under the crown, for, so far as its 
structure went, the colonists were upon equality with the most favored 
inhabitants of the British possessions. In the hands of a wise and 
well disposed sovereign, such a government was capable of adminis- 
tering the affairs of the people in a manner that should secure to all 
protection to life and property, and freedom from molestation in the 
pursuits of prosperity and happiness. 

The condition of the colony at the withdrawal of the civil authority 
of the mother country bore evidence of the wholesome influence of 
wise laws and an equitable jurisprudence. 

The historian, Belknap, speaking of the chaotic period that inter- 
vened between the exercise of English jurisdiction and the establish- 
ment of local authority, pays this high compliment to the people : 
"All commissions under the former authority being annulled, the 
courts of justice were shut and the sword of magistracy was sheathed. 
Habits of decency, family government, and the good examples of 
influential persons, contributed more to maintain order than any 
other authority. The value of these secret bonds of society was now 
more than ever conspicuous." 



124 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Hardly could a higher compliment be paid to a people than that, 
when all restraint of law was removed, when the strong hand of civil 
authority was nowhere felt, order was preserved, business affairs 
flowed on without interruption, and society received no shock. 

The New Hampshire colony approached the subject of the estab- 
lishment of local government independent of the crown, with a deep 
and profound sense of responsibility, with undisguised anxiety, solici- 
tude, and apprehension. The situation was grave, solemn, and 
pregnant with vast and far-reaching consequences. 

That the action of the colony might be in harmony with the senti- 
ment of the other colonies who made common cause in this crisis, the 
first step was to pray the general congress for its advice and direction. 

The response was "to call a full and free representation of the 
people ; that these representatives, if the) - should think it necessary, 
might establish such a form of government, as, in their judgment, 
would best conduce to the happiness of the people, and most effec- 
tually tend to secure peace and good order in the province during the 
continuance of the dispute between Great Britain and the colonies." 

Upon the receipt of this advice steps were at once taken to carry 
the suggestion into execution. A convention was called composed of 
89 members, apportioned among the five counties into which the 
colony was divided, as follows: Rockingham, 38; Strafford, 13; 
Hillsborough, 17; Cheshire, 15; Grafton, 6. The right of suffrage 
in the choice of delegates was restricted to those who could qualify 
in the ownership of real estate to the value of .£20. 

But while this sum was deemed a sufficient guarantee of good 
citizenship to entitle one to exercise the right of suffrage, so much 
more was expected of the candidate than of the voter that a ^100 
qualification was required of one who aspired to the honor, emolu- 
ments, and dignity of official candidacy. This property qualification 
was preserved in the constitution of the state in a modified form until 
abolished by the constitutional convention in 185 1, although it had 
long previously ceased to be of any vital force. The population of 
the colony at this time was a little more than 80,000. 

This convention, charged with the initiation of a temporary colonial 
government, assembled at Exeter on the 21st day of December, 1775, 
and styled itself '-The Congress of New Hampshire.'" 

Having received from the Continental Congress the advice prayed for 
by its predecessor, the convention at once proceeded to the execution 
of its delicate and responsible functions. It continued as such " Con- 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 125 

gress " until the 5th clay of January following, when it adopted a form 
of government and styled itself, "A House of Representatives or 
Assembly for the Colony of New Hampshire." 

Matthew Thornton was chosen speaker, and Ebenezer Thompson, 
clerk. 

The constitution or form of government adopted was very brief and 
simple. It recited the circumstances that necessitated its adoption, 
the wrongs inflicted upon the colony by the crown, asserted loyalty to 
the parent state, and provided for the choice of a council of twelve 
members as a co-ordinate branch of the legislature, the convention 
designated as the " Congress," to take the name of the house of repre- 
sentatives or assembly, and, with the council, to constitute the legisla- 
ture. 

The first council was chosen by the house of representatives, but 
thereafter elections to that body were by popular vote, from the several 
counties, according to population. 

The concurrence of these two bodies was necessary for the enact- 
ment of a statute. No provision was made for an executive head of 
the government, and the appointing power was vested in the legislature. 
It should be borne in mind that at this time there had been no dec- 
laration of independence, and public sentiment had not yet crystalized 
in that direction. Not so advanced a step had been taken by any 
other American colony as the adoption of a constitution or form of 
government. 

It is not strange then, that men, even patriotic men, were not want- 
ing, who looked upon this step as too radical and as over-stepping the 
bounds of prudence and conservatism. The king was the executive 
head of the nation. The colony hesitated to openly displace the crown 
by the substitution of an executive of its own at this stage of the con- 
troversy- 

With the legislative department the case was different. The colony 
had its assembly under the crown. The legislative function under 
certain limitations had been regarded as the right of the people, and 
so instead of providing for an executive, in open displacement of the 
king, it was doubtless considered as more politic to confer executive 
power upon the legislative department, but this must be taken as a 
concession to circumstances, to surrounding conditions, and not as the 
framers 1 ideal of a government they would have established under other 
conditions, and free from restraints, even at that date. 

In the few days devoted to this constitution, but little could be ex- 
pected, save such modifications of previously existing conditions as 
the situation absolutely and imperatively demanded. The people had 



126 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

not canvassed the subject of the fundamental structure of civil govern- 
ment, nor as to what form was most compatible with the natural and 
inalienable rights of man. They had thought out and studied their 
rights under the English government. To that extent and to that only 
had they made a study of the governmental problem. Besides, the 
government they were empowered to create was a temporary structure, 
only designed to continue during the controversy, and, when that was 
adjusted, as it was then hoped it would end peacefully by proper con- 
cession to popular rights, it was to be lain aside and discarded with the 
other paraphernalia of the unpleasantness. 

As the executive function could be exercised only by the legislature 
while in session, it became necessary to substitute some authority to act 
in recess, and so a committee of safety was created to act in this 
emergency, to whom this power was delegated, although for this action 
no warrant was contained in the constitution, but as the public safety 
was the one paramount and overshadowing purpose, any means that 
looked to the accomplishment of this object was fully justified, whether 
within or without the somewhat shadowy boundaries of the law. 

No allusion was made in this document to the creation of a judiciary, 
but the power conferred upon the legislature to appoint the necessary 
civil officers appears to have been regarded as ample for this purpose, 
and on the 26th of January all necessary judicial officers were appointed, 
at the head of whom was the Hon. Meshech Weare as chief justice of 
the superior court. Such references were made to the courts as to 
indicate the purpose on the part of the convention to continue that 
branch of the government as theretofore existing. 

Such features of the judiciary system, however, as had become ob- 
noxious to the people were remedied by legislative enactment. 

Momentous events succeeded the adoption of this form of govern- 
ment in rapid succession. On June 15, a joint committee of the 
council and assembly reported a declaration of independence which was 
received and adopted by a unanimous vote, notwithstanding on Janu- 
ary 5, previous, in their form of government, they had solemnly pro- 
tested that they had not contemplated independency of the crown, and 
protests were numerous and vigorous against the adoption of any form 
of government lest it should be construed as having a tendency in that 
direction. 

This fact shows with what marvelous rapidity the war cloud dis- 
pelled the sentiment of loyalty to the English government when once 
its dark shadow enveloped the land. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 127 

There is one phrase in this declaration that is striking and significant, 
considering that it was uttered eighteen days before the declaration of 
the Continental Congress, on the 5th of July following. 

In this declaration New Hampshire said : 

" We do, therefore, declare that it is the opinion of this assembly 
that our delegates at the Continental Congress should be instructed, and 
they are hereby instructed, to join with the other colonies in declaring 
the thirteen united colonies a free and independent state." 

Nowhere in contemporaneous literature is the idea of national unity 
so clearly and forcefully expressed as in this declaration. 

The language is not "thirteen free and independent states,'" but 
that the thirteen colonies were " a free and independent state,' 1 using 
the word state in its broad and natural sense. 

It is the language of unity and not of severalty — one people — one 
nation — and not a co-partnership of states. 

It was left to an immortal son of New Hampshire, upon the floor of 
the American senate, more than half a century later, to interpret this 
theory of national unity to the understanding and the conscience of the 
American people, and to incorporate that demonstration into the im- 
perishable literature of his time, and to later generations to reaffirm it 
with the sword. 

On the 10th of September following, the national declaration of in 
dependence having been officially promulgated by the legislature, it was 
voted to discontinue the name of province or colony, and to adopt the 
name and style of the " State of New Hampshire." 

For a period of eight years this simple framework of government, 
the product of only fifteen days of consideration, met the requirements 
of that most eventful era of our history ; a circumstance, due not so 
much to the merit of the instrument itself as to the sterling, law-abid- 
ing, self-governing and patriotic character of the people. 

Whatever powers the public exigency required to be exercised for 
the public safety, the legislature, when in session, and the committee 
of safety at all other times, readily assumed without any very critical 
inquiry as to the source of that power. What needed to be done, they 
did ; what power it was necessary to exercise, they exercised ; for, 
absorbed as the country then was in its mighty struggle for existence, 
its fate trembling in the balance as the tide of war rose and fell, there 
was little disposition or opportunity to engage in controversy over legal 
technicalities. 



128 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The defects which experience developed in the organic law, some 
attempt was made to remedy, but, as has happened in later years, the 
people preferred the defects to the remedy. 

On February 25, 1778, the legislature voted to call a constitutional 
convention to frame a new plan of government to supersede the fifteen- 
day product then in force. 

The journal of the proceedings of that convention has not survived, 
but the form of government which it produced, and which the people 
rejected, while it showed some advancement over that then in force, 
left the problem in part, at least, unsolved. 

Its declaration of rights, however, contained a full, clear, and explicit 
statement of the source and origin of power in government which has 
not since been improved upon, and was in these words: "The whole 
and entire power of government of this state is vested in, and must be 
derived from, the people thereof, and from no other source whatever." 
So much, at least, was thus early settled, and with the foundations of 
state thus securely laid, it was not possible for so intelligent a people to 
go very far astray. 

Hereditary government, aristocracy, and monarchy in all its forms 
had already been eliminated as possibilities. Although the form of 
government did not originally enter into the controversy, Republicanism 
became thus early an assured fact, in case victory crowned the sacrifice 
of the colonial armies. 

A fatal defect in this document was the failure to provide for an 
executive department, although it is probable that dissatisfaction over 
the basis of representation was a more potent factor in securing its 
rejection. 

The government of the state was vested in a council and house of 
representatives. The basis of representation in the council was fixed 
in this way : Rockingham, five ; Strafford, two : Hillsborough, two ; 
Cheshire, two; Grafton, one. Then follows this peculiar provision : 

1 ' The number for the county of Rockingham shall not be increased 
or diminished hereafter, but remain the same ; and the numbers for 
the other counties shall be increased or diminished as their aforesaid 
proportion to the county of Rockingham may chance to vary.*' 

But the failure of this attempt at the establishment of a permanent 
government for the state did not arrest the solution of the problem 
which was slowly but surely being developed. The art of state build- 
ing kept pace with the progress of the war. Independence was not 
only to be achieved, but statesmanship was charged with the grave re- 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 129 

sponsibilitv of its utilization for the public good, when no earthly 
power should longer dispute it. 

The second attempt at a permanent government was initiated on the 
1 2th of June, 1781, and outlasted the war, for the welcome tidings of 
peace found the convention with its work far advanced but still incom- 
plete. 

It had held nine sessions, and devoted a great deal of time and delib- 
eration to the task, for not only was it necessary for the convention to 
unite upon its propositions, but also to ascertain what would meet with 
popular approval. 

The facilities for developing and unifying public sentiment in those 
days were not what they are to-day. This difference is pointedly illus- 
trated by the fact, gravely recorded by the historian, Belknap, that the 
Declaration of Independence, promulgated at Philadelphia on the 4th 
of July, 1776, was proclaimed by drum-beat in the principal towns of 
New Hampshire in just fourteen days from that date. And this inci- 
dent is cited as showing the remarkable celerity with which the 
important tidings overspread the country. 

To-day a document of that importance would be read by thousands 
and tens of thousands upon the bulletin boards all over the land before 
the voice that announced it had fairly died away. 

The method adopted by the convention to ascertain in advance 
whether their recommendations were likely to meet with popular favor 
was to cause their proposed amendments to be printed and distributed 
among the people with the request that they be returned with such 
suggestions as the parties receiving them might be pleased to make. 
Twice was this done by the convention before it saw its way to a fav- 
orable verdict. 

The creation of the executive department as a co-ordinate branch of 
the government appears to have occasioned considerable difficulty. 

The feeling of resentment against Great Britain was deep, bitter, and 
universal in the colony, and grew more and more intense as the war 
wore on, and the people seemed to associate the executive department 
with the crown and its representative. 

However unreasoning this prejudice, the convention found it impos- 
sible to incorporate the title of " governor " into the form of government, 
so distasteful had it become as the title of the king's direct representa- 
tive, and in the final draft, in deference to this sentiment, the term was 
withdrawn and that of president substituted. 

The first draft submitted by the convention to the inspection of the 
people created the office of governor, and in an address accompanying 



130 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

it, to influence public sentiment in its favor, this somewhat unique 
language appears, referring to this official, " They have arrayed him 
with honors, they have armed him with power and set him on high ; 
but still he is only the right hand of your power and the mirror of your 
majesty." But the appeal evoked no response, and it was not till the 
amendment of 1 792 that the executive appeared in the constitution 
under the appropriate title of governor. 

Nevertheless, the constitution of 1784 practically and fairly solved 
the problem of republican government in New Hampshire. 

We here find a recognition of the people as the source of all power 
in government ; an admirable statement of the natural and inalienable 
rights of man ; the three appropriate and essential departments of 
government, executive, legislative, and judicial ; an equitable basis 
of representation, and as full and elaborate details for working out the 
various functions of government as could be expected with so little 
practical experience. 

It is certainly very remarkable that the wants and necessities of a 
growing and rapidly developing state should have been so securely 
forecast that, for more than half a century from 1792, no change or 
modification should have been suggested. 

At the end of every seven years from that date the sense of the people 
was taken upon the question of amending the constitution, and in 
every instance, down to 1849, an overwhelming vote in the negative 
was cast, and it is a significant fact that when the convention of 1850 
submitted a large number of amendments to the constitution of 1792 
to the people for their ratification every one of them was rejected, thus 
signifying that in popular judgment a convention of that late day, 
with Franklin Pierce at its head, was no wiser in the art of state- 
building, with all its advantages in the school of experience, and the 
new light from half a century of advancement in civilization and in 
intellectual development, than were the heroes of ''76, when, inex- 
perienced and unschooled, they emerged from the smoke and din and 
turmoil of the Revolution. 

Miss Mabel R. Staniels then read the Declaration of 
Independence. 

On motion of John M. Hill it was voted that the 
thanks of the society be extended to Mr. Bartlett for 
his address. 







William W. Bailey 

1895-97. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 131 

Mr. C. C. Shaw then moved that Mr. Bartlett's 
address be printed, and that a copy be presented to each 
member. 

Rev. Dr. Roberts then asked in regard to the funds 
for that purpose, and the motion was withdrawn. 

On motion of John H. Oberly the matter of printing 
the address was referred to the Board of Managers with 
the recommendation that it be done if funds for that 
purpose could be obtained. 

William D. Sawyer, for the committee, then reported 
the following list of officers for the ensuing year : 

PRESIDENT. 

William W. Bailey, Nashua. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

John M. Hill, Concord. 

Joshua G. Hall, Dover. 

Ebenezer Ferren, Manchester. 

SECRETARY AND TREASURER. 

Otis G. Hammond, Concord. 

REGISTRAR. 

John C. Ordway, Concord. 

HISTORIAN. 

Fred Leighton, Concord. 

CHAPLAIN. 

Rev. Daniel C. Roberts, D. D., Concord. 

BOARD OF MANAGERS. 

George C. Gilmore, Manchester. 

Charles E. Staniels, Concord. 

John Kimball, Concord. 

Charles B. Spofford, Claremont. 

Henry O. Kent, Lancaster. 

Howard L. Porter, Concord. 

Thomas Cogswell, Gilmanton. 



132 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

George B. Chandler, Manchester. 

William Rand, Rochester. 

Allan H. Robinson, Concord. 

Charles S. Parker moved that the report be accepted, 
and that they be declared elected. This was ruled out 
of order, the constitution requiring a ballot. 

On motion of George C. Gilmore it was voted that 
the Secretary cast one ballot for the officers nominated, 
which was done, and they were declared elected. 

The meeting then adjourned to the Eagle Hotel, 
where a banquet was served, after which Henry Robin- 
son, mayor of Concord, was called on to state what 
constitutes a city. 

MAYOR ROBINSON'S SPEECH. 

I am asked to tell you what makes a city, but the elements that 
constitute a model city are so numerous and so familiar that I shall not 
attempt to enumerate them, especially in the short time allotted me 
to-day. 

The tendency of population is to gravitate toward centres. The 
growth of cities during the thirty years last past, and especially during 
the last decade, is something remarkable. It is a matter of congratu- 
lation that the importance of local government is now receiving from 
the people the attention which its great importance demands, for 
upon the management of municipal affairs devolves very largely the 
conduct of the whole country, this control being to such a consider- 
able extent in the hands of the urban population. The government 
of cities is fast growing to be as efficient in execution, as rigid in 
accountability, and as free from political partisanship, as that of other 
corporations, for a city is a corporation, and its management is busi- 
ness, not politics. The term "citizen" now means something far 
more comprehensive than that of "voter." The good citizen realizes 
to-day that he has a mission, a duty greater and more responsible 
than the mere mechanical casting of a ballot once a year or once in 
two years. 

A city is a congestion of interests — not an inconsistent, unsyste- 
matic, diseased congestion — but an accumulation of commingled 
interests, harmonized, methodized, thoroughly marshalled, giving to 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 133 

every diversity of legitimate industry, and to every person engaged 
in it, privileges, protections, and opportunities not otherwise possi- 
ble. Every rule of development is a rule of adaptation — not so 
much a rule of adaptation to individual wants and wishes as to the 
needs and requirements of society. The model city must, of course, 
have a charter and the framework of organic law, and it should have 
natural advantages in location, and be laid out from the outset with 
a view to its growth, its healthfulness, the comfort of its inhabitants, 
and its general attractiveness. The chief function of a city is to 
assimilation. It receives all nationalities, and comprises all classes, 
grades, sorts, and conditions of men, and whatever municipality can 
contain them in unison and loyalty is the best. 

Speaking as I do to-day as a representative and not as an individual, 
I am pleased to welcome the honored guest of this occasion, the Rev. 
Samuel F. Smith, and to bespeak for him the generous hospitalities 
of the city of Concord. His presence here has inspired the commu- 
nity with patriotism, and even the verdure and the foliage seem 
inspired with a fresher growth and a purer and more beautiful 
development because he is here. 

I might, perhaps, be pardoned in saying a few words for our city. 
From our granite wealth we have just erected at the national capital 
one of the largest buildings in the world — indeed the largest library — 
and yet we have only grazed, so to speak, the surface of an inexhaus- 
tible store of granite wealth, the best and finest granite in the world. 
We have built coaches and carriages enough to make a splendid 
pageant around the world, and nowhere in the whole procession is 
any wheel, hub, spoke, tire, bolt, or screw, in which may be found a 
flaw or defect attributable to poor workmanship. If we turn from 
the utilitarian phase of the subject, we find that we have manufactured 
a million dollars' worth of pianos and organs, which have been sent 
out to harmonize and charm every state and territory. We have 
made a million harnesses. If put to a test we could make one of 
them from a side of leather in two hours and thirty minutes, and 
might, if put upon a trial, complete four hundred in a single week. 
Wherever you go in the United States, or Australia, or among the 
contending armies of China or Japan, or in Russia, if you find a 
harness with the word "Concord" on it, you may rest assured that 
it is perfect. Its breeching will be found strong enough for any 
emergency. We have made leather belts sufficient to connect the 
wheels of the universe. We have done many other things, but in 



134 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

the brief time that I am to address you I will not attempt to men- 
tion them. I might, however, be allowed to add that from one 
educational institution alone — I claim it to be a Concord institution — 
we have graduated thirty-five hundred boys, who have been scattered 
throughout the country to diffuse their usefulness and their ennobling 
influence to the best advantage. An institution has been defined to 
be the lengthened shadow of one man, and St. Paul's School is 
especially that of a perfect gentleman and a cultured scholar in the 
purest and best sense. 

The story has been told that at one time during the war of the 
Rebellion the armies were encamped on both sides of the river — on 
one side the Union army ; across, the Confederate. As they laid 
there in their encampments the baYids on each side began to discourse 
music. On the northern side it was "The Star Spangled Banner" 
swelling out on the breeze; on the southern side the band responded 
with "Dixie's Land"; then again the northern side said in their 
music, "Yankee Doodle"; and yet the southern band responded 
with "Dixie's Land" ; again the northern band played "Hail 
Columbia," but the response was still "Dixie's Land;" and then the 
notes of "America" — " Sweet Land of Liberty" — were struck on 
the northern side of the stream, and the band on the southern side 
took it up, and it was "Sweet Land of Liberty" on both sides. 
Every voice responded in perfect harmony, and the strains of those 
instruments and of the great soul of the country breathed anew and 
again with the delightful inspiration of the love of home. 

Rev. Dr. S. F. Smith was then presented and was 
accorded another ovation. His remarks were confined 
to the hymn which has made his name known through- 
out the world. He said in part : 

" I have had the pleasure of seeing my little waif translated into 
seven different languages, but it has not been so widely spread in this 
regard as another hymn from my pen, ' The Morning Light is Break- 
ing,' which appears in some sixteen different tongues. It has been 
interesting to follow the course of my song. It has been sung and 
played on every conceivable instrument, but it remained for a guide in 
an extensive cave at Manitou, in Colorado, to give it expression on 
Nature's own organ by hammering it out on the stalactites and 
stalagmites in one of the rooms in which he had discovered musical 
properties. I once asked Oliver Wendell Holmes what had given 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 135 

such currency to my little waif, and he replied, ' The secret of its 
popularity lies in your starting the first line with the word " My 1 ' instead 
of the word " Our." The country is not ours, but mine. Every one of 
us has an interest in it individually.' 

" I have come here to take part in this uprising of patriotism, and 
the occasion is deeply gratifying to me. There is a wonderful upris- 
ing of patriotism in this country, and every tongue in the land, old 
and young, is singing the verses which will never grow old. and all 
classes are doing homage to the old flag, the flag of freedom." 

He concluded by saying : 

" 1 don't care to be flattered but I love to be appreciated. I would 
rather have a single rose when I can smell it than a whole cartful of 
flowers dumped on my grave after I am dead. I am deeply grateful 
for the honors you have accorded me, and 1 wish you good-bye and 
bid you God-speed." 

A poem by Adelaide Cilley Waldron of Farmington 
was read by Miss Mabel R. Staniels. 

1775 IN MEMORIAM. 1895 

Fling out the colors tried and true, 

The valiant red, the spotless white, 
And hail the bonny field of blue. 

Where shine the stars in glory bright. 

Above the tumult of the town 

A bell has sounded loud and clear ; 
With acclamation and renown. 

Whose echoes sweet we pause to hear. 

And thrilled have been the eager walls 

When, in a measure glad and free, 
A stately hymn has filled the halls 

We know as homes of liberty. 

With Easter-tide but past its flood. 

In this fair morning of the year, 
A common impulse stirs the blood 

Of all who meet in kinship here. 



136 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

It is a day of memory true. 
Of reverent and filial thought ; 

And as the hallowed past we view, 

We praise the work our fathers wrought. 

Not theirs the Puritan's desire, 

Nor theirs the Pilgrim's pious quest, 

But with a quick adventurous fire, 

Throbbed every bold and gallant breast. 

Primeval forests bristled sharp 

Against their vexed advancing front, 

And lack was not, of scorn nor carp, 
From them who bore no battle brunt. 

But sturdily the way was trod 
By steadfast and unfaltering feet, 

And broken was the heavy sod 

That we may glean of harvests sweet. 

Against a strange barbaric foe 

Our fathers held a dauntless blade, 

And suffered hardship, toil, and woe, 
Until the sullen strife was stayed. 

No Campus Martius could they boast 
Whereon to practice warlike art, 

Or learn, before a noble host, 

To throw the discus and the dart. 

But when the solemn trumpet blew 
Which called to conflict sire and son, 

And bade the hands of kinsmen true 
Be strong to train the opposing gun, 

Still loyal to " noblesse oblige" 

They warred in earnestness and ruth, 

And knew defeat, or held the siege, 
As men who fight for love and truth 

Beside their labor and their pain, 
The most we do is slight indeed ; 

Yet, as to-day shall wax and wane, 
May not some blossom, from the seed 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 137 

They scattered broadcast o'er the land, 
Send forth its sweetness far and wide, 

To stay the rude and hasty hand, 
Or, with a gracious influence, guide? 

Shall not an impulse strong and high 

Help us to make the nation great, 
Supreme in mindful dignity, 

In precept true — the ideal State? 

Display the colors bright and brave, 

That led our conquering fathers on : 
Salute the stars and stripes that wave 

Above the land their valor won. 

And sound again, with one accord, 

The hymn God's reverent servant brings, 

The anthem of the noble word. 

With whose acclaim the country rings. 

Sons of the sword — guard well the faith 

Held sacred by the men of old ; 
And deem as dross both life and death 

Before the enspangled flag's free fold. 

Thus may the patriot's fame be ours. 

And honored all the past shall be, 
And still from out their storied towers 

The bells shall peal for liberty. 

John H. Oberly was then introduced and spoke of 
the American flag. 

MR. OBERLY'S SPEECH. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : On the 13th day of April, 
in the year of our Lord 1861, the then governor of South Carolina, 
addressing a rejoicing multitude in the exultation of traitorous joy 
and pride, exclaimed, " We have humbled the flag of the United 
States. Fort Sumter is ours by an act of war ; and I say unto you 
that it is the first time in the history of the country that the stars and 
stripes have been humbled. We have defeated their twenty millions ; 
we have brought down in humility the flag that has triumphed for 
seventy years ! " 



138 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Then, North and South, 

—there was mounting in hot haste; the steed, 
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car, 

Went hurrying forward with impetuous speed, 
And quickly forming in the ranks of war; 

and the flag which the heroic valor of our Revolutionary sires had 
made not only possible but also a glorious fact, disappeared, as if by 
magic, from the Southern sky. To those of Northern birth who, at 
that time, resided at the South, and had remained loyal to the Union 
sentiment, this was an event of ominous significance. To them it 
seemed as if the sun had disappeared from the firmament at mid-day, 
and that the blackness of night had fallen suddenly upon the earth. 

Surrounded by dangers ; arrested ; tried in summary manner by 
an illegal and lawless tribunal ; banished, with only a few hours of 
grace, for the undenied, the proudly confessed crime of devotion to 
the Union ; steaming up the turbid waters of the Father of Rivers, 
on a vessel passengered, in most part, by enemies of the flag, all of 
them insolent and overbearing, and even threatening in their declara- 
tion of treasonable purposes ; passing, as they stood frowningly upon 
the bank vexing the river's flow, forts, over the shotted guns of which 
flew a new and hostile flag, seeming to be, in the ghastly moonlight 
of the midnight of the middle of May, a threatening bird of ravenous 
beak and evil omen, are events remembered by me as personal experi- 
ences, remembered as I remember the distressful visions of a troub- 
lous dream. 

And I remember, also, that, at last, the vessel rounded into a 
stretch of river, broad and lake-like, extending to the confluence of 
the Ohio with the Mississippi. To the right was the state of Ken- 
tucky, to the left the state of Missouri, and in front the state of 
Illinois. Behind us, a bank of thunderous storm-clouds filled the 
sky ; to the right and to the left, low down upon the horizon, the 
fitful flashing of sullen lightning was seen ; but before us the sun was 
shining in a cloudless sky. Behind us a storm was raging, on either 
hand dangers were threatening, but in front of us was brightness and 
safety ; and there, over the headquarters of the general commanding 
at Cairo, visible to the eye, was floating, in the language of New 
Hampshire's greatest son, " the gorgeous ensign of the republic," 
known and honored throughout the earth, still full-high advanced, its 
arms and trophies streaming in their original luster, not a stripe erased 
or polluted, not a single star obscured. In its presence, heads were 
uncovered, voices broke into cheers, and tears welled in eyes unused 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 139 

to the melting mood. It was a vision of beauty, and, beholding it, 
the lines of Rodman Drake came into my mind, and, somewhat 
changed by the inspiration of the moment, found utterance on my 
lips : 

Flag of the free heart's hope and home, 

By angel hands to valor given, 
Thy stars now light the welkin dome, 

And all thy hues are part of Heaven. 

Passing into its protection, we realized the fact, as we had never 
realized it before, that beneath its folds there was a refuge for the 
persecuted and the oppressed, and that it symbolized the power of 
free government, of government regulated by law and supported and 
sustained by the invincible arms of a free people. 

Twentv-four years after the events of 1861, acting as an officer of 
the United States government charged with the duty of preventing an 
unlawful intrusion of citizens into Oklahoma, on a pleasant evening 
of another day of another May, I stood on the porch of the main 
building of the Chilocco Indian Training School. From my position 
I could see, to the north, running east and west, clearly defined, a 
line of human habitations that were occupied by civilized beings ; but 
to the south and to the east and west nothing was visible beyond 
the school reservation but a level waste of uncultivated fertility 
extending to the sky. No city, no village, no hamlet, no habitation 
of any kind could be seen. At that time there were no citizens of 
that part of the Indian Territory; no courts of justice were there, no 
officers of the law, no law, no local government of any description. 
In front of the school building about half a mile distant, a band ot 
uncivilized Indians passing to their reservation had set their camp for 
the night, and I was informed and knew that lawless and desperate 
men and reckless adventurers were familiar to that locality. What 
protection had the well-filled larder and the well-stocked fields of that 
government school against those ill-fed savages, and these hungry, 
lawless, and desperate white men? No protection whatever, except- 
ing the protection afforded by the flag ; but that was sufficient ; for 
that symbol, which has triumphed over all our foreign and domestic 
foes, even when it is not surrounded and supported by the dreadful 
instruments of modern warfare, has a moral power that is effective 
everywhere ; and there, in that land of no law, and of savage and 
desperate men, I beheld the wonderful spectacle of a piece of bunt- 
ing that symbolized the moral power of the republic, holding in awe 
and order both savagery and desperadoism ! 



140 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Thus, sir, the flag symbolizes at once the dreadful puissance 
and the moral forces of the government, and, streaming over every 
part of the republic, it speaks to us in a mystical language that all the 
world has learned to understand. 

Floating over the capitol near at hand here, it declares the suprem- 
acy of the nation in all the delegated powers of sovereignty, and 
gives assurance of protection to the reserved rights of the state. 

Floating over the courthouse, it declares liberty protected bylaw to 
be one of the fundamental principles of the government. 

Floating over the school house, it declares the common school 
system to be the shield and the buckler of republican government. 

Floating over buildings in which is heard the rumbling of printing 
machinery, it proclaims the liberty of the press. 

Floating over buildings in which the merchant plies his vocation, 
or in which the mechanic toils at his trade, or in which the products 
of the soil are stored, and from which they are distributed, or in 
which the professional man or the scholar burns the midnight lamp, 
it declares the interest of the government in all the affairs of the 
people. 

Floating over our forts and arsenals, and over the vessels of our 
navy, it gives notice to all the nations of the earth of our determina- 
tion to maintain, if need be, the honor and dignity of the republic 
against the world in arms. 

And wherever it flies, whether on the sea or on the land, at home 
or abroad, it announces the greatness of the Union, and is at once an 
encouragement and a warning, saying to the patriot, "Remember 
the glories of the past, contemplate the blessings of the present, and 
anticipate the possibilities of the future"; saying also to the lawless 
and the traitor-hearted, "Beware ;" and to all the world, "I 
symbolize the power of the Great Republic, a government of the 
people, by the people, for the people." 

Hail, glorious symbol ! Behold it! In the beginning of the century 
now drawing to a stately close, it waved over only a few millions of peo- 
ple inhabiting an undeveloped country, and over only thirteen feeble 
states. Now it waves over more than seventy millions of people, all 
of them free, and over forty-four states, none of them cursed by the 
horror and disgrace of human slavery, and many of them puissant 
and great — over an empire, the story of the development of which 
sounds like a tale told by the story-teller of the Arabian Nights 
Entertainments. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 141 

And who can say that, long before the close of the coming century, 
the dream of the optimistic statesman of to-day will not rind realiza- 
tion in an ocean-bound republic, over which the standard of the 
republic will stream triumphantly — over the Dominion of Canada on 
the north, over Mexico and the states of Central America on the 
south, and over Cuba and Hawaii, and other islands of the Atlantic 
and Pacific, either as an emblem of sovereignty or of protection? 

My mind throngs with shining auguries, circle on circle, 
Bright as Cherubim, with golden trumpets silent, 
That await the signal to blow news of good to man. 

May these things be ; and may the blessing of the God of nations 
rest upon and abide with the flag of the republic until, in every nation 
of the earth, it shall glow in the consummation of the principles of 
the government which was established by the valor and wisdom of 
our Revolutionary ancestors, in honor of whose memory we have met 
here to-day. 

Long may our land be bright 
With Freedom's holy light ; 
Protect us with Thy might 
Great God, our King. 

The Crescent Quartette sang » Comrades in Arms " 
and " America," and the meeting then adjourned. 
A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H.,July 10, 1895. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of Mana- 
gers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution was held on the above date at the 
Pension Office in Concord at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

A communication from the Maryland society inviting 
this society to attend the dedication of a monument in 
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N. Y., in honor of "Mary- 
land's Four Hundred" at the battle of Long Island, 
August 27, 1895, was read. 



142 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

On motion of Howard L. Porter it was voted that the 
Secretary issue credentials to such of the members as 
will attend, and that the Secretary send out a printed 
invitation to all members of this society. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications, and the 
following were admitted to membership : 

Eugene M. Bowman, Nashua. 

Charles Stickney, Nashua. 

Edgar M. Rix, Littleton. 

William A. Hillard, Manchester. 

Voted that President Bailey and Thomas Cogs- 
well be a committee to investigate the advisability of 
offering a prize for essays by students of this state on 
some subject of Revolutionary history. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., July 22, 1895. 

A special meeting of the Board of Managers of the 
New Hampshire Society of Sons of the American Rev- 
olution was held on the above date at the office of C. E. 
Staniels in Concord at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the Secretary. 

The President and Vice-Presidents being absent, 
Charles E. Staniels was chosen President fro tern. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications, and 
the following were admitted to membership : 

Edward P. Comins, Concord. 

George B. Spalding, Syracuse, N. Y. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 143 

The petition of Brian C. Roberts, asking for demis- 
sion from this society to the Oregon and Washington 
society was granted. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., October 9, 1895. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of Mana- 
gers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution was held at the Pension Office in 
Concord, N. H., on the above date at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

Proceeded to consider applications for membership, 
and, on ballot, the following were elected members of 
the society : 

Herbert W. Odlin, Concord, 

Amos J. Blake, Fitzwilliam, 

William F. French, Milford, 

Edward Kellom, Hillsborough, 

Frank M. Cilley, Exeter, 

the latter on a demit from the Illinois society. 

On motion of Thomas Cogswell it was voted that the 
Secretary notify all members now in arrears of dues for 
two or more years that unless their dues are paid on or 
before January 1, 1896, their names will be erased from 
the rolls. 

On motion of Thomas Cogswell it was voted that the 
President be authorized to extend an invitation to 
Henry O. Kent, of Lancaster, N. H., to deliver the 
annual address at the next annual meeting. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



144 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



Concord, N. H., January 8, 1896. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of Mana- 
gers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution was held at the Pension Office in 
Concord, N. H., on the above date at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

Proceeded to consider applications for membership, 
and the following were elected members of the society : 



Arthur C. Stewart, 
Dustin W. Waldron, 
George D. Waldron, 
Anthony C. Hardy, 
Arthur H. Knowlton, 
Simon Ward, 
Arthur M. Dodge, 
Arthur E. Poole, 
William F. Horton, 
Charles G. Shedd, 
John Scales, 
Dudley T. Chase, 



Concord. 



Hanover. 

Boston, Mass. 

Jaffrey. 

East J a ft rev • 

Keene. 

Dover. 

Claremont. 



The Secretary reported the following members as de- 
linquent in dues for two years or more : 



Jabez Alexander, 
William Badger, 
Clinton A. Cilley, 
Dixi Crosby, 
Eben O.. Garland, 
William P. Hill, 
James S. Morrison, 
Hiram F. Newell, 
Robert L. Shirley, 



Dover, 
Concord, 
Hickory, N. C, 
Exeter, 
Bartlett, 
Concord, 
Athens, Ga., 
East Alstead, 
Goffsto-vvn, 



and it was voted that their names be dropped from the 
rolls. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 145 

On motion of John Kimball it was voted that the 
Secretary and Howard L. Porter be authorized to pub- 
lish a year book, and an amendment was offered by 
Mr. Porter and adopted, that the Secretary be allowed 
a suitable compensation for the extra work. 

On motion of Mr. Porter it was voted that the 
annual meeting be held on Wednesday, April 22, the 
19th, as fixed in the by-laws, falling on Sunday. 

A general committee with full power to appoint sub- 
committees and make all arrangements for the next 
annual meeting was elected, consisting of William W. 
Bailey, Howard L. Porter, Capt. James Miller, U. S. A., 
Thomas Cogswell, and Charles E. Staniels. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., March 17, 1896. 

A special meeting of the Board of Managers of the 
New Hampshire Society of Sons of the American Rev- 
olution was held at the Pension Office in Concord, 
N. H., on the above date at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and the following were elected members 
of the society : 

Eugene F. Carpenter, Concord. 

Ernest G. Hatch, Hartford, Conn. 

Jacob W. Mooar, Manchester. 

Charles H. Stewart, Concord. 



146 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Phineas R. Gould, Littleton. 

Arthur C. Bradley, Newport. 

George R. Kimball, Haverhill. 

Herbert E. Haley, Newmarket. 

The meeting then adjourned. 
A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., April 8, 1896. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of Man- 
agers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution was held at the Pension Office 
in Concord, Wednesday, April 8, at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

On motion of Howard L. Porter it was voted that 
the Secretary be allowed the sum of twenty dollars for 
his extra work in editing the year book. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING, 1896. 

Concord, N. H., April 22, 1896. 
The eighth annual meeting of the New Hampshire 
Society of Sons of the American Revolution was held 
at Representatives' hall, State House, Concord, on 
Wednesday, April 22, 1896, at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President, 
and prayer was offered by the Chaplain. 

Voted to dispense with reading the records of the 
last meeting. 

The reports of the Secretary, Treasurer, and His- 
torian were read, adopted, and placed on file. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 147 

SECRETARY'S REPORT 

For Year Ending April 22, 1896. 

The number of members reported at the last annual meeting, 
May S, 1S95, was 176. Since then we have lost as follows: 

Dropped from the rolls for non-payment of dues . 8 
Died ........ 2 

Demitted ....... 1 

Total loss . . . . . . .11 

The members who have died during the year are Marshall P. Hall 
■of Manchester, February 12, 1896, and Daniel F. Straw of Manches- 
ter, April 14, 1896. 

Brian C. Roberts of Spokane, Washington, was transferred to the 
Washington and Oregon society, July 22, 1895. 

During the year we have gained 47 members, one of whom, Frank 
M. Cilley of Exeter, was transferred from the Illinois society. 

The net gain in membership for the year is 36, and the present 
number of members is 212, all of whom are in good standing and 
approved by the Registrar-General. 

Our present constitution and by-laws were adopted at our last annual 
meeting, by which strict regulations in regard to the payment of dues 
are provided. At that time there were a number of members who were 
from two to four years delinquent in their dues. As the provisions of 
the new constitution and by-laws could not properly be applied to 
previous time, the Secretary was directed by the Board of Managers to 
notify these delinquents that unless their dues were paid by January 1 , 
1896, their names would be dropped from the rolls. All but eight re- 
sponded, and these were deprived of their membership by vote of the 
Board of Managers, January 8, 1896. 

After the adoption of the new constitution it became necessary to 
reform our rolls to correspond therewith, and, with great regret, we 
were obliged to part with the ladies who had hitherto been associated 
with us as members. The dues for that year were returned to those, 
nine in number, who had paid them. This action was taken with the 
earnest hope that the Daughters of the American Revolution would add 
to their rolls those whom we were obliged to lose. 

During the year past a year book has been printed and distributed, 
the first since we became a part of the National Society. 



148 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



The public interest in the society is on the increase, and the fact 
that our net gain in membership is less than last year is due rather to a 
cessation of personal effort on the part of the members than to any 
other cause. The fact that the honor and dignity of membership, once 
acquired, is fully appreciated, is proved by the absence of a single with- 
drawal from the society during the year. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



TREASURER'S REPORT 
For Year Ending April 22, 1896. 
Receipts. 



From balance from previous year 








$157.16 


dues for year ending April, 1893 








2.00 


1894 








4.00 


1S95 








23.00 


1896 








156.00 


1897 








2.00 


sale of tickets for banquet, 1895 








105.00 


admission fees 








39.00 


certificates .... 








19.00 


sale of rosettes 








18.45 


sale of badges 








18.00 


Total .... 


$543.61 


Expenses. 











For printing and postage, ordinary . 
year book . 

banquet, 1895 
dues to National Society . 
services of Secretary, ordinary . 
vear book . 



f68.oo 
83.50 



$20.00 
20.00 



$151.50 

I63-75 
51.25 



40.00 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



149 



For badges 




$18.00 


certificates 




26.00 


rosettes 




15.00 


dues returned 


to nine ladies 


9.00 


express 




2.55 


incidentals 




3.80 


Total . 


. $480.85 


Cash on hand 




62.76 



$543.61 



Respectfully submitted, 

Otis G. Hammond, Treasurer 



HISTORIAN'S REPORT 
For Year Ending April 22, 1896. 

Under the constitution adopted at the last meeting of the society, 
it is provided that the historian shall have the custody of all historical 
and genealogical documents belonging to the society, and shall, at 
each annual meeting, if possible, present a biographical sketch of all 
members deceased during the present year. 

The collection of historical and genealogical documents in the 
possession of the society is neither extensive nor varied. At present 
it embraces five bound volumes, and a mass of pamphlets and circulars 
relating to the work of the various state societies. 

Of the bound volumes, three are of the correspondence of Samuel 
B. Webb, and were presented to the New Hampshire society by 
William Seward Webb of New York, ex-President-General of the 
National Society. These volumes are of great interest to the student 
of history, and are of considerable value. The others are the year 
book of the Minnesota society, a large volume containing a steno- 
graphic report of the proceedings of the last annual meeting, together 
with a complete register of the membership, and other interesting 
information; and the 1890 yearbook of the New York Society of 
Sons of the Revolution. At present, this nucleus of a library is left 
in the office of the Secretary, in the state library building, where it 
will be allowed to remain. 

Two members have been removed by death the past year, Marshall 
P. Hall, February 12, 1S96, and Daniel Felch Straw of the same 
city [Manchester], April 14. 

11 



150 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Marshall Parker Hall was the son of Joseph Hall and Maria B. 
Parker, and a grandson, on his father's side, of William Forrest, who 
was a private in Capt. Jeremiah Smith's company, Col. Enoch Poor's 
regiment; also in Capt. Henry Dearborn's company, Col. B. Arnold's 
detachment, Quebec expedition. 

He was born in Gilford, August 1 1, 1838. He lived in Manchester 
from 1839 to 1845, in Laconia from 1845 to 1856, and afterwards 
practically ail the time in Manchester until his death. He secured his 
early education in the district schools and at Gilford Academy, and 
then learned the art preservative in the office of the Belknap Gazette, 
in Laconia. Later, he was employed as a printer in several of the 
news and job offices in Manchester until 1858, when he went to 
Scioto county, Ohio, where he taught school from 1858 to 1S61. 
Returning to the state he published the New HampsJiire Agricultural 
Journal for a year, and retired from the business in 1862. In the 
latter year he was elected to the position of city librarian, which 
position he held for three years. In 1865 he entered the office of the 
Amoskeag Corporation, and at the time of his death was chief clerk 
and the oldest employee there in point of service. 

Mr. Hall will best be remembered for his work in furthering the 
educational interests of the city in which he lived. He was first 
elected to the school board in 1868, and served continuously, with 
the exception of three years, down to death. He served as clerk of 
the board for many years, and since 1890 was the vice-chairman. 
He was foremost in every movement for the good of the schools, and 
many of the improvements in system and methods were the result of 
his persistent and intelligent efforts. 

He was twice a member of the state constitutional convention, and 
was the author of the amendment to the constitution which provides 
that no public funds shall be used for the support of denominational 
or sectarian schools. A wife and two sons survive. 

Daniel Felch Straw was prominently identified with the business 
interests of Manchester during his life, and it is probable that few 
men in the city were better known. He was the son of Daniel and 
Lydia Ann (Felch) Straw, and a grandson of Samuel Straw, private 
in Capt. Gordon Hutchins's company, Col. John Stark's regiment, 
1775 ; Capt. Samuel Wallingford's company, Col. Daniel Gilman's 
regiment, raised to reinforce the Continental Army in New York, 
1776-77; in Capt. Henry Butler's company. Col. Bartlett's regi- 
ment, for the defence of West Point in 1780. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 151 

He was born in Hooksett seventy-three years ago, and gained his 
education in the schools of that town and at Pembroke Academy, 
from which he graduated with honors. Following, he taught school 
in Hooksett and Bedford, but. tiring of it, he removed to Manchester 
in 1847, and embarked 111 the grocery business with a brother. In 
this he continued for about eight years, and then engaged in the 
jewelry business until about seven years ago, when he retired. He 
was prominent in Masonry and in municipal matters, and his life of 
sturdy honesty gained for him the respect and esteem of all. 

Of the two, the former had been a member of this organization 
since October 23, 1890: the latter was admitted May 15, 1SS9. 

Fked Leighton, Historian. 

On motion of George C. Gilmore it was voted that 
the President appoint a committee of five to nominate a 
list of officers for the ensuing year. 

The President appointed George C. Gilmore, Charles 
E. Staniels, Josiah Carpenter, William H. Greenleaf, 
and John C. Ordway as such committee, who then retired. 

John M. Hill offered the following resolution, which 
was passed unanimously : 

Resolved that the thanks of this society are hereby 
presented to Gen. Howard L. Porter and Secretary 
Otis G. Hammond for their services in the issuance of 
the current year book. They have brought to this work 
great care and research, and, both in matter and form, 
have given it a high degree of excellence, and made it 
a marked credit to the society. 

The committee on the nomination of officers an- 
nounced that they were ready to report, and they nomi- 
nated the following : 

PRESIDENT. 

William W. Bailey, Nashua. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

John M. Hill, Concord. 

Joshua G. Hall, Dover. 

Charles H. Carpenter, Chichester. 



152 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



SECRETARY AND TREASURER. 

Otis G. Hammond, Concord. 



BOARD OF MANAGERS. 



George C. Gilmore, 
Josiah Carpenter, 
Howard L. Porter, 
John Kimball, 
Charles B. Spofford, 
Thomas Cogswell, 
Bradbury L. Cilley, 



Manchester. 

Manchester. 

Concord. 

Concord. 

Claremont. 

Gilmanton. 

Exeter. 



FINANCE COMMITTEE. 



George B. Chandler, 
Thomas P. Cheney, 
Arthur H. Chase, 



HISTORIAN. 



Fred Leighton, 



Manchester 

Ashland. 

Concord. 



Concord. 



REGISTRAR. 

John C. Ordvvay, Concord. 

CHAPLAIN. 

Rev. Daniel C. Roberts, D. D., Concord. 

On motion of Henry O. Kent it was voted that the re- 
port be accepted and that the Secretary cast one ballot 
for the men nominated. 

The ballot was cast and they were declared elected 
to their respective offices. 

The President requested the same committee to bring 
in a list of nominations for delegates and alternates to 
the national convention. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 153 

The President then made remarks, and, as a result, 
George C. Gilmore moved, and it was voted, that the 
President appoint a committee of seven to bring to the 
attention of the next legislature the matter of a monu- 
ment to John Langdon. 

The President said that the committee would be an- 
nounced later. 

Henry O. Kent was then introduced and delivered 
the annual address. 

COLONEL KENT'S ADDRESS. 

Mr. President, Gentlemen of tlie Society, Fellow Citizens : The 
present is an era of societies. So pervasive is the fraternal instinct, 
that on every hand men and women associate to commemorate some 
notable event, the memory of benefactors, or for presumed good in 
material relations. 

The sentiment of fraternity is as broad as the universe and as old 
as the race. The dependence of the creature and the omnipotence of 
the Creator are ideas inherent from birth ; he is indeed an alien and 
an outcast who does not look up with reverence to the sublime 
power, the author of life, or who does not crave and enjoy the fellow- 
ship of those who are sojourners with him during his pilgrimage. 

The cultivation of these primal instincts and their wise develop- 
ment blesses the race and the individual. It is to these impulses that 
we owe government and civilization. In a less important, but yet in 
no trifling sense, the desire for combined action through societies rests 
upon the same foundation. 

Ambition, with proper pride of person and opinion, is not a fault, 
but an incentive to higher and better living, and if, perchance, occa- 
sional love of authority and display actuates those whose declarations 
and pretentious appellations may seem exaggerations, this may be set 
down as attributable merely to the redundancy of imaginations long 
suppressed by the wearying cares of life, and now flowering under 
the genial liberty of thought and action that permits association with 
the assumption of gratifying titles, so long as such action does not 
conflict with personal right or public policy. 

There are societies so beneficent as to be second only in potency 
and influence to the church of Christ on earth. Who could contem- 
plate the superb parade in Boston last August, of thirty thousand 



154 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Christian Knights, themselves but representatives of the almost 
countless host of their brethren of the Ancient Craft, without being 
impressed and dominated by the vast power for good or ill there 
manifest. 

Who can note uprisings of the people in attempted correction of 
wrong without trembling at the blind power so entrusted to leaders, 
good or bad as the case may be, " to make or mar the commonweal." 

Natural impulses find natural expression. We may not curb the 
elements, but we may measurably direct them to do the work of man. 
So the desire for associated action and power that comes from union, 
while it may not be eliminated and should not be misdirected, rightly 
used may develop controlling influences for good. 

It is a noticeable feature of this development that patriotic societies 
largely hold attention. Love of country, next to reverence for 
Diety, is the noblest human attribute. Its cultivation is a public 
service, a bond of union, an incentive to endeavor. 

Hence it is that such societies are. building better than they know, 
and that the fruitage of present effort will be abundant and blessed to 
the generations. 

There is that impalpable something, which for lack of better desig- 
nation is broadly termed sentiment, really the most potent factor in 
upbuilding and upholding a state. 

Material things are essential ; labor of brain and muscle are neces- 
sary ; ambition is needed to spur the laggard and beckon the despair- 
ing ; every-day tasks, hard, wearying and often repellant, compress the 
will within defined lines; but through all, above all, and behind all, 
are the sympathetic emotions — love of home, of kindred, of coun- 
try ; the gentle chivalry always regardful of the weak, high enthu- 
siasm ennobling the cause it serves and deifying its champion. 

These are inspirations that buttress humanity against adversity ; that 
lead to great deeds ; that make the world better for lives thus inspired, 
and the country — our country, to us the fairest and the best country 
on the rolling globe. 

The man with the muck rake, bent form, and searching eye, eagerly 
intent only on finding coin after coin to add to his personal store, loses 
the grander conceptions of life, the just comprehensions of country 
and humanity that come to him whose heart is open to the elevating 
influences of chivalric thought, of patriotic emotion ; who makes his 
own life happier by aspirations for the greater good, glory, renown of 
his country, who reveres its heroic dead, holding their lives to be 
incentives to more enlightened action for the common srood. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 155 

It has seemed to me in accord with the harmonies of this occasion 
to consider the prevalence of patriotic associations, their purpose and 
influence. The story of colony and state, their leaders and people, 
the changed conditions wrought by passing centuries, the present 
interests of the commonwealth, and the effect upon material and intel- 
lectual advancement, of patriotic and chivalric sentiment, evolved 
through societies like ours in sustaining public honor, securing endur- 
ing prosperity, domestic thrift, content, and happiness. 

Of the patriotic orders the oldest is the Society of the Cincinnati, 
organized by the officers of the American army at the cantonments 
on the Hudson in May, 1 7S3 .. 

The preamble asserts that "To perpetuate therefore as Well the 
Remembrance of this Vast event [American independence] as the 
Mutual Friendships which have been formed Under the pressure of 
common danger. And in many instances cemented by the blood of the 
parties. — The officers of the American Army do hereby in the Most 
solemn Manner associate constitute and combine themselves into One 
Society of friends to endure as long as the)' shall endure, or any of 
their eldest male posterity ; And in failure thereof the Collateral 
branches who may be Judged Worthy of becoming its Supporters and 
Members — 

The Officers of the American Army having generally been taken from 
the Citizens of America posses high Veneration for the Character 
of that Illusterous Roman LUCIUS OUINTIUS CINCINNATUS 
And being Resolved to follow his example by Returning to their 
Citizenship they think they May with propriety denominate themselves 
the Society of the Cincinnati." 

His excellency the Chevalier de la Luzerne, French minister, their 
excellencies the Count D'Estaing, the Count De Grasse, the Count De 
Barras, the Chevalier de Touches, the admirals and commanders of 
the navy, his excellency the Count De Rochambeau, commander-in- 
chief, and the generals and colonels of his army, all of our French 
allies, were elected to membership. 

Baron Steuben presided at the organization, June 15, 1783, " His 
Excellency the Commander-in-Chief [George Washington] was elected 
as President-General, and Major-General Henry Knox, Secretary-Gen- 
eral.'' Authority was given for the organization of state societies 
among the "Old Thirteen,' 1 and the New Hampshire society was or- 
ganized at Exeter November 18, 1783. Major-General John Sullivan 
was president, Lieut. -Col. Commandant Henry Dearborn, vice-presi- 
dent, Capt. Ebenezer Sullivan (son of the general), secretary, and 
Col. Joseph Cilley, treasurer. 



156 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

As is known, this society, conceived in the purest and most natural 
intentions and for simple and laudable purposes, met a growing senti- 
ment of disfavor among the people ; particularly was the feature of 
hereditary succession a shining mark of offence. It was the intent, 
said the cavillers, to form an order of nobility in free America, to erect 
an exclusive class and give the lie to the proclaimed principles of the 
Revolution. The storm became so violent that the general meeting 
at Philadelphia May 15, 1784, issued a circular letter, "Signed by 
Order, George Washington," promulgating new articles of association, 
eliminating the features that had provoked popular clamor and advis- 
ing its adoption. To this demand New Hampshire made answer 
July 4, 1785. 

" We viewed with grief and astonishment the uneasiness which the 
establishment of our Society gave to some of our Fellow-Citizens; 
and were no less surprized to find the pen of Malice so successfully 
employed in construing actions that flowed from the purest motives 
into secret and dangerous attempts to subvert a Government which 
we had toiled and bled to rear up and defend. 

" Nothing could afford us more pleasure, than to quiet the minds and 
remove the fears of our fellow citizens ; but to yield to Arguments 
that have no force, to acknowledge dangers that cannot exist, to recede 
from a Plan founded on most laudable Principles thereby stamping 
y e mark of suspicion on the most virtuous actions ; or to adopt a 
Conduct which might imply a concession that by our serving as Sol- 
diers we have forfeited our right as Citizens, and are not entitled to 
those Privileges which our fellow subjects enjoy without controul ; 
would be making a sacrifice they have no right to expect. * * 
If wearing the emblems of our Order establishes a Rank of Nobility 
in America contrary to the Confederation we can see no reason why 
the Badge worn by the free-masons does not as effectually do it. 
* * * If the society cannot exist as originally instituted, we shall 
acquiesce in y e abolishing it altogether : but as we became Members 
by signing Articles which we then and still suppose originated in vir- 
tuous friendship, we cannot conceive ourselves bound by articles we 
never subscribed. — When any new system is recommended we shall 
vidually claim a right of judging for ourselves, the expediency of 
becoming Members, and we never shall accede to any plan which per- 
mits any man or body of men to dispose of or even direct us in the 
disposition of our property. 1 ' 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 157 

It is perhaps needless to say tiiat nothing further was heard in 
New Hampshire as to the abandonment by its Cincinnati, of the bond 
of union originally adopted. 

The society continued its regular meetings on July 4 until 1823, 
when the last assembly was convened at Portsmouth ; the papers and 
organization were then surrendered and thereafter the New Hampshire 
members were affiliated with the Massachusetts commander}', as these 
state bodies came to be called. 

It is gratifying to know that in 1894, at Exeter, the New Hampshire 
commandery was revived by descendants of original members and that 
it has started upon its new career with every indication of permanent 
success. 

If I have dwelt somewhat at length upon the Society of the Cincin- 
nati, it has been to vividly illustrate the fraternal, patriotic sentiment 
among the officers of the Army of Independence, and to exhibit the 
sturdy honesty of their convictions shown in their refusal to quail be- 
fore a clamor that time has shown to be as senseless as unjust; 
proving by their attitude the rectitude of their intention and exhibiting 
the confident repose of virile integrity. 

Our mental fibre is healthier for this defiance of unworthy criticism. 
With the revival of the Cincinnati comes the opportunity of our or- 
ganization, in which, as in the Society of Colonial Wars, begotten of 
the same impulse, " fraternity, without regard to former rank, is the 
broad foundation stone on which the order rests.'' 

Antedating in chronological period even the Cincinnati, but of later 
date than the S. A. R., is the Society of Colonial Wars, organized in 
New York in 1892 " to perpetuate the memory of those events hap- 
pening from the settlement of Jamestown, Va., May 13, 1607, to the 
battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, and of the men who in military, 
naval, and civil positions of high trust and responsibility, by their acts 
or counsel assisted in the establishment, defence, and preservation of 
the American colonies, and were in truth the founders of the nation. 1 ' 
Its membership is open to "any male person above the age of twenty- 
one years, of good moral character and reputation, who is lineally 
descended in the male or female line from an ancestor who served as 
a military or naval officer, or as a soldier, sailor, marine, or privateers- 
man under the Colonies at any time during the period named, or held 
civic office in any of them.* 1 

A broad and rich field is covered by this organization ; the settle- 
ment of the first adventurers, the origin and history of government, 
the struggle with nature, and the terrors of Indian warfare, the growth 



158 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

of political thought, the evolution of self-government, its development 
amid privation, confederation and the birth of our political system, 
these things and more come specially within the province of this 
society. 

The Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is the out- 
growth of local and state societies organized from 1876, the centennial 
of the Declaration, until 1889, the centennial of the inauguration of 
Washington as president, when the National Society was organized, 
New Hampshire having organized April 24 of that year. 

Any man is eligible for membership who is of the age of twenty- 
one years and who is descended from an ancestor, who with unfailing 
loyalty, rendered material aid to the cause of American Independence, 
or a soldier, or a seaman, or a civil officer in one of the several colo- 
nies or states, or as a recognized patriot, provided he shall be found 
worthy. 

Then, as the complement and compliment of these, come the 
patriotic organizations of the women of the Union, the Colonial 
Dames, and Daughters of the Revolution, to exhibit with the patriotic, 
the social and graceful side of these associations. I am not attempt- 
ing the narrative or statistics of these societies, and have cited salient 
points of either but to illustrate the field of historic research, 
patriotic environment, and prolific incentive, to which the attention 
of American citizens is called through these social and fraternal 
agencies. 

There is no effect without cause, and cause always produces effect. 
There is no agency so potential for the prosperity and perpetuity of 
the Union as the patriotic instinct ; an aroused consciousness of duty 
to the state. Without bigotry or class prejudice, mindful of differences 
of thought and peculiarities among the founders : when Puritans of 
New England, Catholics of Maryland, Churchmen and Cavaliers 
of Virginia, and Huguenots of the Carolinas, by united and com- 
mon exertions established independence, we are forced to the conclu- 
sion that American citizenship has been too lightly esteemed ; that 
we have received within our portals dangerous elements from the 
depraved of continental civilizations ; and that the time is at hand 
when it is a necessary duty as well as a patriotic and pleasing sen- 
timent to disseminate and cultivate a more virile love of country 
and a more glowing realization of what the institutions of our coun- 
try mean to us and to our children. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 159 

New Hampshire has been a state of practical people and ideas. 
Its first denizens penetrated its forests and explored its coasts, not on 
missions of religious zeal or in search of the beautiful in nature : they 
came to hunt, fish, and trade with the Indians. They were a hardy 
race who did their duty by doing well that thing that was next before 
them. The story of the capture of Louisburg was the wonder of the 
two continents : the stand at Bunker Hill was the admiration of the 
world. In these typical events men of New Hampshire, prepared for 
their work by the conditions under which they were reared, almost, if 
not wholly, dominated their associates. 

It is the memory of events that made such men, and the memory 
of such men who shaped the times wherein they were placed, that we 
commemorate. It is to perpetuate their theories, sacrifices, and 
virtues, that the flag floats from school houses all over the land : that 
we announce the dictum of the elder Adams, that guns should be 
fired and drums be beaten on patriotic anniversaries, and that the 
people meet, as we are met to-day, in the capitol of a state founded 
by sacrifice, devotion, and sturdy heroism. 

Impulses that sway the youthful mind give it lasting direction. The 
memories of childhood shape the thought and actions of maturer life. 
Knowledge of our country's story and familiarity with the deeds of 
her earlier statesmen and heroes is an enduring influence for union 
and fraternity. 

A simple ballad, familiar perhaps at some rural husking or muster, 
rings through my memory from the far-off days of boyhood. It 
expressed a sentiment of brotherly confidence and loyalty then exist- 
ing between the sections, at the time before fierce passions engen- 
dered of strife over a deplorable system essayed the dissolution of 
the Union : passions since so chastened by experience and trial as to 
occasion rejoicing among those who once experienced them at their 
failure. 

I am conscious that the rhythm and spirit of these homely lines 
have abided with me, shaping thought and action in later years. How 
many among us recall kindred instances and influences? 



" Oh tell me not the South forget 
The breasts that leaped at the bayonet. 
When Eutaw mingled her fountain rlood 
With the crimsoned tide of New England'- I 
When the soldier dropped 'mid the tangled vines, 
And found a grave in the Carolines — 
Oh, they'll receive me witli shouts of joy. 
For I am a free New Hampshire hoy ! 



160 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

"My grandsire stood with his mountaineers 
'Mong the sunny vales of the Laveteers — 
Or gathered within the sylvan glen 
To the wild halloa of Marion's men — 
Or listened to Sumter's rirle ring, 
And bathed his temples in Jasper's spring! 
Oh, the rattling bullets he heard with joy, 
For he was a free New Hampshire boy!" 

Thank God we are again a common and united country — 

" No South shall be remembered now — 

No North — no East —no West ; 
Our Country shall be all in all, 

The land we love the best — 
Our march shall be an army's march. 

And freedom lead the way 
Till all the world shall take the step 

And follow into day. 

" Up, up, Columbia, clap thy hands, 

Thy mourning time is o'er, 
Thy night of gloom and sorrowing 

Shall come to thee no more ; 
For God who chastened this fair land 

Hath rolled the stone away, 
And set the sun burst in the sky 

That marks the perfect day." 

Patriotism is above partisanship. Love of country is a purer emo- 
tion than devotion to party. Amid warring factions, dominating 
prejudice, and unreasoning zeal — the bond of our common political 
brotherhood, the glory of our common country — should be like the 
lustre of the Shekinah, guarding from deceit, sectionalism, and 
enmity. 

In all our history no chapters more abound in records of unselfish 
devotion, endurance, and indomitable will than these pertaining to 
New Hampshire. 

We may not attempt even a resume of the story, but we may recall 
enough to warrant this conclusion, and to guide as well as guaranty 
our future. 

As was the Kentucky of Boone, so at an earlier day was our 
domain, the " dark and bloody ground " of savage warfare. 

In the pathway of predatory Indians on incursions from the Canadas 
to the settlements on the coast, for more than a century New Hamp- 
shire was an advanced outpost of civilization, protecting Massachu- 
setts by her exposed position, enduring the perils of savage warfare ; 
notable for such contests as that of Lovewell of Dunstable, May 19, 
1725, at Lovewell's pond, just over the line, in Fryeburg in the 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 161 

Pequaket country, where Paugus was killed; "As runs the wolf, 
would Paugus run " ; the siege of Charlestown or No. 4 ; the massacre 
of Waldron, eighty years of age, at Cocheco, in 1689; the attempt 
on Portsmouth in 1696; and the depredations and murders at Dur- 
ham, Exeter, Hampton, and Penacook. 

When the conflict for empire in the New World, between France 
and England, was progressing, New Hampshire was again the theatre 
of bloody warfare. The trail from Quebec was adown her valleys ; 
her forests were the alleged domain of the Indian allies of the former 
power. The explorations of Wentworth in 1752 and 1754 sufficed 
to excite suspicion that the English proposed occupancy of the upper 
Connecticut valley, thus cutting off their routes and occupying their 
rendezvous. Belknap says, " Our people went to explore the Cohos 
country in 1752, and a committee of the legislature went in 1753. 
Zacheus Lovewell, John Talford, and Caleb Page, with John Stark as 
pilot to survey and mark a road.'' Peter Powers of Hollis came in 
1754 to see about the erection of a fort, as far as Northumberland and 
the Upper Ammonoosuc. 

The fortress at Cape Breton dominated the St. Lawrence and the 
coasts of New England ; our fishermen were harassed until, smarting 
under the infraction of privileges and fired, perhaps, by the fervor 
that made the contest between the two empires partake of the charac- 
ter of religious controversy, that wonderful expedition was organized 
by the hunters and fishermen of New Hampshire and New England 
that in 1745 wrested from the Grand Monarch the strongest fortress on 
the continent; an expedition wherein the zeal displayed fully met the 
motto offered by Whitefield and borne on the banners, "Nil 
Desperandum, Christo Dace,'" and illustrated the character and possi- 
bilities of our people. 

In that campaign, the inspiration for which was largely drawn from 
William Vaughan of Portsmouth, were seven companies of New 
Hampshire men as a regiment, with Samuel Moore as colonel and 
Nathaniel Meserve as lieutenant-colonel, an armed sloop with thirty 
men commanded by John Fernald, its guns from the walls of William 
and Mary. 

We have heard much of late of the purloining from the gable of a 
chapel at Harvard University of the iron cross brought home by this 
expedition from the French church inside the walls of this fortalice, 
but how many recall the fact that the bell of the same church, captured 
by our own people, was placed in the tower of St. John's church, 
Portsmouth, where it was destroyed by fire in 1S06, '« recast by Paul 



162 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Revere & Son, 1807," and where it now summons the worshippers, as 
a century and a half ago it sent its echoes over Cape Breton and its 
great fortress. 

The French and Indian wars ended with the surrender of Montreal, 
September 8, 1760. The village of St. Francis had been destroyed 
by Rogers October 7, previous, thus breaking the power of the tribes. 

Settlements in the north country followed. Dartmouth College was 
founded in 1761, and the colony was divided into five counties, named 
for the then members of the English ministry, in 177 1 . 

We may never forget these pre-Revolutionary days in justice to our 
more immediate ancestry, for it is to them that we refer when deter- 
mining the reasons of the struggle for independence, and the success 
that came to those who bore arms and directed the civic affairs of the 
colony and state. We may not forget that the first overt act of the 
Revolution was not at Lexington in Massachusetts, but at Fort Wil- 
liam and Mary on the Piscataqua ; that Paul Revere, sent by the 
Boston committee of safety to Portsmouth, December 13, 1774, rode 
along the quiet lanes and sounding beaches. " now by the silent wood- 
lands, now by the wide, dark sea, 11 to advise of the British order that 
thereafter no military stores should be sent to the colonies, months 
before the lanterns glowed from the tower of Christ's church, or his 
horse's hoofs sounded the reveille of liberty on the road to Concord. 

It was John Sullivan of Durham who with his associates seized 
the royal fortress, securing munitions afterward used at Bunker Hill, 
months before "the embattled farmers 1 ' fired "the shot heard round 
the world." 

If any state of the old thirteen has a record particularly calculated to 
invoke enthusiastic patriotism and loyalty, it is our own. First in the 
field, active, faithful, and diligent, until military labors were supple- 
mented by intelligent civic devotion, when by her adoption of the 
constitution she made the Federal Union possible and ensured the 
government we enjoy, she has done her whole duty ; her illustrious 
example not only animates her own progeny, but it is an incentive to 
others. 

By recommendation of the Continental Congress, a congress of 
representatives of the people of New Hampshire assembled at Exeter, 
January 5, 1776, and voted "To take up civil government for this 
Colony, assumed the name, power, and authority of House of Repre- 
sentatives for the Colony of New Hampshire, 11 and provided for the 
election of a second House or Council, the original of our present 
Senate, both bodies being called the Assembly. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN HE VOLUTION. 163 

This was the origin of our present state government, a plan carry- 
ing us through the troubles of war and the trials of a new state to our 
present prosperity. The prominence of New Hampshire in the war 
for independence is a recognized fact, and her pre-eminence in devo- 
tion, sacrifice, and martial service is admitted. In the limits of this 
address it is impossible to review her part in the struggle ; with 
students of her history around me, and representatives of her patriots 
in every community, it would be presumption to attempt even an analy- 
sis of her deeds. 

Among the men who shaped the civic life of the new nation there 
were none more worthy to wear the toga or the laurel wreath than 
Meshech Weare, born at Hampton Falls, June 16, 17 13, councillor of 
New Hampshire, president of the council, chairman of the committee 
of safety, chief justice and first president under the constitution. 

John Langdon, born at Portsmouth, 1740, leader at William and 
Mary, judge of the common pleas, speaker, in which position he 
made the speech as thrilling and potential in New Hampshire then, as 
the words of Lincoln at Gettysburg in 1S63 : 

" Gentlemen — I have three thousand dollars in hard money, thirty 
hogsheads of Tobago rum, worth as much ; I can pledge my plate for 
as much more ; these are at the service of the state. With this money 
we can raise and provision troops; our friend John Stark will lead 
them. If we check Burgoyne the state can repay me; if we do not 
the money will be of no use to me." Raising the money he enlisted 
his own company and followed on to Bennington and Saratoga. Well 
has it been sung of him by a New Hampshire poet : 

" And the boon we gained through the noble lender 
"Was the Bennington day, and Burgoyne's surrender." 

He was president of the convention in 1789; as president of the 
Senate in 1785 he was elected president to succeed Meshech Weare 
who resigned, was United States senator, governor frequently in 
the new century, and died September 18, 18 19, aged seventy-nine 
years. 

It was not alone to those in the field that credit belonged ; the 
scattered communities of the new settlement were to be protected and 
directed so to act that supplies, munitions, and men might keep up the 
strength in the field. There were negotiations with other colonies, 
there were rival military claims to harmonize, there was a judiciary to 
be established and the machinery of a state to be set up and operated. 
The civic chiefs were the friends and advisers of the commander of 



164 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

the armies and buttresses to the Congress. Weare and Langdon were 
trusted advisers of Washington and it was these men and their con- 
freres who raised the armies and kept them in the field. 

Our military record is illustrious. In every campaign from Bunker 
Hill to Yorktown New Hampshire regiments and New Hampshire 
officers performed the highest duty and won approbation. We may 
not even call the roll but some names are household words. 

Perhaps of all our Revolutionary heroes John Sullivan was the most 
versatile ; he attained the highest rank, although the glamour of his 
service gives precedence to John Stark in popular affection. 

Sullivan was made brigadier by Congress in 1775. He was at Tren- 
ton, Princeton, Monmouth, Brandywine, and Germantown. In 1779 
he commanded, as major-general, the expedition to break the power 
of the Six Nations of Indians in New York and their tory allies, 
performing with drastic thoroughness his delicate and important work. 
He was speaker of the house, president and governor of the state, 
attorney-general, member of Congress, president of the convention, 
and influential in securing the adoption by New Hampshire of the 
federal constitution, and altogether one of the most justly notable 
figures of the Revolutionary period. He was our first grand master of 
Masons, was made federal judge by Washington, and died crowned 
with honors July 23, 1795, aged fifty-four years. 

In 1773 and 1774 there was in his law office at Durham a young 
graduate of Harvard (1769) studying the common law as applied in 
New Hampshire. He went with his teacher on that night raid upon 
Fort William and Mary, where one hundred barrels of powder and all 
the small arms and heavy ordnance were gathered as the first fruits 
of the rebellion. He became a major in Poor's regiment, colonel, 
adjutant-general of the army, was at Monmouth with Washington, 
and fell a victim to a British vidette while making the rounds of the 
lines opposing Cornwallis. He was officer of the day, and, going the 
grand rounds, was barbarously wounded, dying of those wounds Octo- 
ber 6, 1 78 1, aged thirty-three years. 

A very Bayard of the Revolution was Alexander Scammel. His 
name and fame survived, and when Lafayette visited this country in 
1824 he gave as a toast at a public dinner, " To the memory of Light 
Infantry Poor and Yorktown Scammel. " 

Enoch Poor, with James Reed and John Stark, were the first col- 
onels of the New Hampshire line in the army of Washington, appointed 
by the state. Poor was in Canada with Sullivan and with him in his 
Indian campaign of 1779. In 1780 he was transferred to the com- 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 165 

mand of the light infantry, hence Lafayette's toast in 1824. It is 
stated that he was killed at Yorktown in a duel with a French officer 
September 8, 1781, but that the cause of death was concealed for fear 
of trouble with our French allies, and was given out as "bilious 
fever." 

Stark and Reed were at Bunker Hill holding the slight defences on 
our left toward Mystic river, and mowing down by their deadly fire the 
Welsh Fusileer regiment opposed to them until, as Stark said, " the 
dead lay as thick as sheep in a fold." 

At Bunker Hill were one thousand one hundred and thirty-seven 
New Hampshire soldiers, two thirds of the entire force engaged, and 
of this number twenty-nine were killed and seventy-eight wounded. 

Henry Dearborn was a member of Arnold's terrible expedition against 
Canada, penetrating the Maine wilderness along the Kennebec in 
rigorous winter weather, eating belts and harness for hunger. He was 
at Stillwater, Saratoga, Monmouth, with Sullivan in his Indian cam- 
paign of 1779, at Cornwallis's surrender in 178 1. At the death of 
Scammel he was colonel of our Third Regiment, was made general, 
captured York and Fort George in Canada in the War of 181 2, was 
senior major-general of the army, minister to Portugal, and died at 
Roxbury, Mass., June 6, 1829, aged seventy-eight years. 

Joseph Cilley of Nottingham was at William and Mary and took 
one hundred volunteers to Bunker Hill, was major in Poor's regiment, 
was at Bemis Heights, Burgoyne's surrender, with Washington at 
Valley Forge, at Stony Point with " Mad Anthony Wayne," Mon- 
mouth, Yorktown. He was major-general of the state militia and 
put down the insurrection at Exeter in 1786, arresting the ringleaders 
with his own hand. 

The name of no Revolutionary hero is so familiar within the state or 
so popular beyond its borders, as that of John Stark of Londonderry. 
He was with Rogers's Rangers seven years, was captured by Indians 
in 1752, when his dauntless demeanor on being doomed to "run the 
gauntlet" inspired their admiration and presaged his untameable 
future. 

He was colonel of the First New Hampshire Regiment and came up 
at 2 p. m., to give his support to Reed at Bunker Hill. Stepping 
out from the slight defence erected on our left, he stuck a stick in the 
ground forty yards in front of his men, exclaiming, "There! don't a 
man fire till the red coats come to that stick, if he does I will knock 
him down ; fire low and aim at their waist bands." He was impetuous 



166 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

and impatient of restraint, tenacious of his right and jealous of military 
precedence. He was at home when the advance of Burgoyne in 1777 
startled New England. Unless that general with his Hessians could be 
met and checked, the story of the war was written ; there were loyal 
men, but scant money and means of equipment. Then John Langdon 
spoke and Stark acted. 

Bennington was fought August 17, 1777, with one thousand seven 
hundred and fifty men. Stark beat back Baum and checked Bur- 
goyne's advance. Whether or not he said, "We must beat the 
British, my brave boys, or to-night Molly Stark sleeps a widow" is 
immaterial, but beat them he did, and the hunt for Burgoyne com- 
menced ; every valley sent out its quota, every hillside sent its men, 
until at Saratoga, October 17, 1777, the British power was broken by 
this independent action of New Hampshire, for it was a state campaign 
and its general reported only to the legislature. Congress was prepared 
to criticise its audacity, but Schuyler sent word of the victory at Ben- 
nington and the New Hampshire commander was made a Federal gen- 
eral. Stark served through the war in Canada with Sullivan ; at Tren- 
ton and Princeton he performed service. He was one of the thirteen 
generals sitting at the trial of Major Andre. At the close of the war 
he retired to the homestead at Amoskeag, where he died at the great 
age of ninety-three, beloved to all. 

The thousands who daily pass along the Merrimack valley between 
the falls of Amoskeag and the capitol go in review before this brave 
old commander, whose resting place overlooks the shining waters. 

His statue in marble adorns the hall of sculpture at Washington, 
greets us in bronze in the State House park, and soon by act of Congress 
is to stand in equestrian grandeur in the great city, once ancient Derry- 
field. Chiefly does he abide with us and the generations in the 
memories that revere patriotic daring. 

What wonder that with these and other kindred representative men 
in forum and camp New Hampshire became a sturdy, self-reliant com- 
monwealth, dowered with an heritage of renown and heroic example. 

In every subsequent war, devoted to the country, the flag, and the 
government ; saying with Miller at Niagara when preparing to storm 
the battery whose capture gave us the field, words afterwards borne on 
the regimental colors, " Til try sir; 11 with Pierce in Mexico; shedding 
the first blood of the war for the Union from the veins of young Ladd 
of Alexandria in the streets of Baltimore, and sending thirty-five 
thousand of her sons to follow and defend the flag, she has blazoned 
in burning letters a lesson to be read and never forgotten by her chil- 



SONS QF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 167 

dren, whether at home or residents of that greater New Hampshire 
which exists in the loyalty of her sons and daughters scattered from 
where the surf breaks on Ouoddy Head to where the sun, as it sinks 
beneath the Pacific, shines through the Golden Gate and upon the 
isles of the Great South Sea. 

Ours is a proud heritage. Were there no higher motive we might 
well meet on annual occasions to rehearse these mighty deeds and 
prescient struggles, justified in the grandeur of the spirit that called 
them forth and in the devotion with which they were executed. 

The reliant energy characterizing the colonial and revolutionary 
periods remains, and in our generation is firm and unconquerable as 
then. 

Let me present instructive parallels. The inventive genius and 
indomitable will that enabled Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel Meserve to 
drag a siege train on sledges across the morass by human muscle, and 
to mount the battery that was potential to silence the guns of the great 
fortress at Louisburg in 1745, was reproduced in 1861 in the pluck and 
bravery of Colonel Edward E. Cross and his men of the Fifth New 
Hampshire, shown in the construction of the Grape Vine bridge across 
the Chickahominy, an effort requiring equal prescience, skill, and per- 
tinacity, and involving, perhaps, equally grave results. 

The daring of John Paul Jones in the old Indiaman, metamorphosed 
into the war ship Bon Homme Richard, that Sunday morning off 
Flamborough Head, then lashed to the British frigate Serapis, and 
pierced through and through by her shot, halliards cut by the storm of 
lead and flag fallen, when the question, " Have you surrendered?'' 
elicited his defiant response, " Surrendered, I have not yet begun to 
fight ! " finds its parallel when off Cherbourg Sunday morning, June 19, 
1864, while on land church bells were ringing, the good ship that went 
down on Roncador Reef, named for a New Hampshire mountain, 
Kearsarge, with James S. Thornton, descendant of Matthew Thornton, 
signer of the declaration, as executive officer, in an hour's fierce engage- 
ment sank the Confederate Alabama ; an equally hazardous undertaking 
with equally important results. 

The parallel does not end with instances of military or naval 
prowess ; civic virtue and patriotism are equally conspicuous. 

In 1777 John Langdon, merchant of Portsmouth and thereafter gov- 
ernor, finding the treasury empty and troops necessary to sustain the 
colonies, pledged his private estate for funds to equip that regiment 
with which Stark checked the advance of Burgoyne by the victory of 
Bennington. 



168 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

In i S6i Ichabod Goodwin, merchant of Portsmouth and governor of 
the state, in the absence of legislative authority and in the presence of 
a great emergency, pledged his private credit for funds to equip the 
First and Second regiments, hurried to the front in the war for 
the Union. 

Such men as these of the early days and their compeers came from 
the forests, the glens, the shores of New Hampshire ; the men of 
Louisburg and Bunker Hill and Bennington and Trenton and Mon- 
mouth and Yorktown ; the men 

Whose shoeless feet tracked Jersey's snows — 
And crimsoned Eutaw's rill ; 

the men whose descendants opened wider the forests to make the new 
New Hampshire that has blossomed as a rose in the wilderness and 
has become the home of a hardy and thrifty race. 

The contrast is great between the New Hampshire of to-day and the 
colony of the pioneers. 

Forests give place to cultivated fields — forest streams turn wheels 
of great manufacturing cities — no longer does Newichwannock go un- 
vexed to the sea. Amarascoggin is curbed by booms and clams, while 
Margalloway forgets the slumberous murmur of her pine forests in the 
screech of excursion steamers. 

Along forest trails locomotives thunder, and the throne of Agiochook 
on Waumbek Methna is invaded by climbing engines, and the chatter 
of tourists breaks the solitude of centuries. 

Telegraph and telephone rule lines across the blue of heaven and 
from points between which vice-regal messengers toiled for weeks, 
words are flashed through space by subtile forces, and occult agencies 
do the bidding of man until the wonders of science are commonplace, 
and we grumble if a six days' journey is not performed in as many 
hours, or a dispatch once executed by fleet runners in six weeks is not 
transmitted in as many seconds. 

This is a business era. In forum, mart, press, and everyday life the 
claims of business crowd to the wall other considerations. This con- 
dition I think is largely resultant from the civil war, changed relations 
between sections, rapid transit, and instantaneous messages. Bar- 
riers between north and south no longer exist; the south is not purely 
agricultural, the north is not wholly mechanical. Either section is 
alike interested in legislation affecting production, consumption, and 
medium of exchange. The nation is cosmopolitan. Fluctuation of 
the funds, a poor crop or a good harvest on the continent, in far away 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 169 

Russia, in the Argentine Republic, affects the farmer on western 
prairies or New England hillsides. Steam has annihilated space and 
electricity is fast annihilating steam. We are a common family, but 
with our multiplied and varied resources an adaptive one. 

During the contest for the supremacy of law and national unity 
everything gave place to the needs of the hour. Recognized creeds 
of finance, revenue, economy, thrift, were swept beyond the pale by 
the fierce tornado that swirled into a common vortex energy and sub- 
tance to keep troops in the field and ships on the waters to preserve 
national life. 

Reconstruction delayed return to recognized methods, and it was 
not until a new generation had come to manhood that the condition 
of public affairs began to receive that attention so imperatively 
demanded by fundamental and economic truths. Conflicting theories 
born of conflicting interests confronted us so that several years have 
been a transition period to be followed doubtless by healthful and 
permanent results, accomplishing greater development and augmenting 
prosperity. 

New Hampshire is alert to the spirit that stirs the century. Capital 
has heard the sound of her waterfalls and come to dwell by her 
streams; it has heard the call of farmer, lumberman, and manufac- 
turer, and built iron ways of traffic along old lines of travel, and even 
through the solemn woods to the wild camps of the loggers. 

We have been decreed "good form"; tourists throng our moun- 
tain gorges and the shores of our lakes, our smiling valleys and wind 
swept hills, for rest, recreation, and communion with nature. While 
outside capital has erected vast manufactories, built up potent railway 
systems, and opened caravansaries for travel, observation warrants the 
statement that native executive skill or ability has reared or conducted 
nearly all of these. 

The practical problem seems to be to utilize our resources for the 
development and prosperity of the state. Marketing the product of 
our forests, encouraging manufacturing through economic transporta- 
tion and wise legislation, increasing hygienic and pleasure travel with 
immense income to railways, resorts, and farmers ; reclaiming land 
cleared by lumbermen, so far as adapted to agriculture, and to foster 
that primal art by which man derives sustenance from the ground and 
the processes of nature ; the wise encouragement and liberal control 
of transportation on which general prosperity so largely depends ; to 
foster practical education and to make even more perfect the remedial, 
educational, and reformatory institutions of the state; these are the 



170 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

objects challenging the attention of the children of the fathers, 
affording opportunity for wise effort, and promising far reaching and 
beneficent results. 

There is nothing in the adaptation of New Hampshire brain and 
muscle to such undertakings as these incongruous with the traditions 
of her people and the experiences of the fathers, but it is the legiti- 
mate sequence of the work of the pioneers. To do and to do well 
that thing that is next before and nearest to them has always been 
the characteristic of our people. We shall have read the lessons of 
the past with bleared vision and dull brain if we do not comprehend 
the pregnant fact that the traditions of our past are but pledges of our 
future. 

Love of country, proper state pride born in our blood, nurtured by 
the free air of our hills, chivalric devotion to the home of our love, 
the state of our birth or of our adoption, as a part of our common 
union, evoked on occasions like the present, strengthened by the story 
of the days and of the leaders of our past, vivified and warmed by 
patriotic enthusiasm thus engendered, are at once the most natural 
and the strongest guaranties that the future of New Hampshire will 
be worthy of her past — a past which I have endeavored in part to 
recall. 

In the days when youth was high and the future filled with only 
pleasant anticipations, with fervent love for our state and great devo- 
tion to the memory of her founders and champions, there came to me 
in this connection, not perhaps the "divine afflatus" of poesy, but 
a rhythmic blending of the ideas, loyalty, and hopes that marked my 
love for New Hampshire. After its long slumber may I be permitted 
to produce that tribute here, to close the hour during which you have 
given me your kindly attention? 

Old Granite State; thy name recalls 

Tales of privations, many, dark and drear. 

Since first was set in thy primeval forests vast 

The footprint of the daring pioneer. 

Years in their onward course have rolled away 

And left behind their trace 

Deep graved in living characters, unaltered, uneffaced 

Upon the page of history and upon 

The hearts of all thy stalwart sons, 

Reared 'mid thy rocky fastnesses, or where 

Connecticut, New England's pride, to ocean runs. 

Our Fathers' hero deeds are known and loved — 

And cherished better than the tongue may tell — 

Their names are graven on fame's sounding shield — 

From Yorktown's triumph back to Bunker Hill. 

New Hampshire's glorious dead ! Oh where 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 171 

Are names more fit to live in song and story 

Than those that frame a halo 'round her brow 

Of never fading glory ! 

The Delaware's bright waters 

Flow lightly past her dead — 

Virginia's lovely daughters 

Know their lowly quiet bed ; 

St. Lawrence guards their slumbers 

And the wilderness of Maine — 

For them poetic numbers wake Bennington again. 

Around thy rocky height, Carillon,* 

New Hampshire's sons repose — 

Near Mexican pavilion 

And 'neath chill Canadian snows. 

Then shout for the old Granite State 

Each hill and stream and sod — 

We keep the faith they pledged for us — 

We bow to none but God. 

Joseph B. Walker then delivered an address on 
Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford. 

WHY DID BENJAMIN THOMPSON, NOW KNOWN AS 
COUNT RUMFORD, BECOME A TORY ? 

Ladies and Gentlemen : I received some time since from Mr. Sec- 
retary Hammond a dainty little note saying, "The Board of Man- 
agers and the general committee of arrangements wish me to say that 
they are surely counting on you for a fifteen minutes 1 talk on Benja- 
min Thompson and his politics," which is, I suppose, being interpreted, 
" Why did Benjamin Thompson become a Tory ?" 

It is impossible to answer that question in all its fullness and with ab- 
solute certainty, now that more than one hundred and twenty years have 
passed since he retired within the British lines at Boston in the fall of 
1775. A probable conclusion, however, may be reached by a patient 
review of some of the more salient incidents of his life previous to that 
event. Upon these, and upon some documentary evidence of un- 
doubted character, we must base our opinions. 

Benjamin Thompson was born at Woburn, Mass., on the 26th day 
of March, 1753. His father died about twenty months afterwards 
leaving him, an only child, to the care of his mother. Two years later 
she was married a second time to Mr. Josiah Pierce, Jr., of that town, 
who was a thrifty, as well as a worthy man. It was mutually agreed 
by the guardian of young Thompson and all the other parties in 
interest that the stepfather should receive his wife's son, then three 

* Ticonderoga. 



172 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

years old, into his family, and be paid for his maintenance from the 
income of the child's slender patrimony the sum of two shillings and 
five pence per week until he attained the age of seven years. In due 
time he was sent to the public schools of his native town and for a 
short period to a select school in Medford. About the time he passed 
from boyhood to youth he began to manifest an extraordinary love for 
the natural sciences, particularly for chemistry and physics. 

At the age of thirteen he was placed as a clerk in the store of Mr. 
John Appleton of Salem. Here he so assiduously devoted his inter- 
vals of leisure to study and scientific experimentation as to attract the 
notice not only of his employer but of other persons as well. We are 
not surprised therefore to learn that when the general joy in Salem 
over the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766 sought expression in a 
pyrotechnic display the aid of young Thompson was invoked in the 
preparation of the fireworks required for the occasion. 

He entered at once upon the work assigned him, and was prosecut- 
ing it with fair prospects of success when the trituration of some of 
the requisite chemicals in a mortar caused an explosion which summa- 
rily returned him to his mother with a singed head and a burned face. 
This accident kept him within doors for a time, but he soon recovered 
and returned to Salem, where erelong he thought that he had discovered 
perpetual motion. In his abounding joy he walked one night all the 
way to Woburn to communicate to his friend, Loammi Baldwin, his 
great good fortune. He remained with Mr. Appleton some three 
years and until the non-importation agreement had so dimished the 
business of his employer that his services were no longer required. 

We not long afterwards find him in Boston as a clerk in the store of 
Mr. Hopestill Capen. Here also his insatiable thirst for knowledge 
animated him to the devotion of every moment which he could call his 
own to its attainment. 

He studied drawing and music. He practiced sword exercises, 
and, on such evenings as he could command, took lessons in French. 
What direct objects he may have had in view does not appear. It is a 
striking fact, however, that at a future time all the various attainments 
made at this early period proved of great practical value to him and 
contributed to his eminent success. Indeed it is doubtful if the oldest 
educator of any time, fully prescient of his future, could have directed 
his efforts more wisely than did he, blindly following the impulses of 
his genius. Providence sometimes prepares great men for great 
careers in ways peculiarly its own. It did this in the case of Washing- 
ton, and of Franklin, and of Lincoln, and, I think, of Rumford. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 173 

But business soon declined in rebellious Boston, as it had done in 
Salem. General Gage had quartered his troops in the town. His 
services no longer needed, Thompson returned to Woburn and began 
the study of medicine with Dr. John Hay (December 15, 1770). 
To this he devoted himself with his usual ardor for about a year and 
a half. He made a systematic disposition of his time, assigning to 
different occupations the twenty-four hours of the day, as follows : 

"i,2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Sleep. Get up at six o'clock and wash my 
hands and face. 

7, 8. Exercise £ and Study ^. 

9, 10. From 8 till 10, Breakfast, attend Prayers, etc. 

11, 12. From 10 to 12, Study all the time. 

1. From 12 to 1, Dine, etc. 

2, 3,4. From 1 to 4, Study constantly. 

5. From 4 to 5, relieve my mind by some diversion or exercise. 

6, 7, 8,9, 10. From 5 till bed time, follow what my inclination 
leads me to, whether to go abroad or stay at home and read either 
Physic. Anatomy, or Chymistry or any other book I want to peruse. 

1 1, 12. Sleep." 

This period of medical study was broken into somewhat by occasional 
absences for teaching school, which his financial necessities made im- 
perative, and by his attendance upon the lectures on natural philosophy 
and mathematics of Professor Winthrop, at the college in Cambridge. 
To avail himself of these he often walked thither from Woburn and 
back the same day, a distance, both ways, some twelve to fourteen 
miles. 

As indicating the character of some of his lucubrations during this 
youthful period of his life, I have transcribed a letter of his dated 
August 4, 1769, addressed to his friend, Loammi Baldwin, his con- 
fidant and senior by some eight years. It reads as follows : 

" Woburn, August 14, 1769. 
Mr. Loammi Baldwin. 

Sir, — Please give the Direction of the Rays of Light from a Lumin- 
ous body to an Opake, and the Reflection from the Opake Body to 
another equally Dense and Opake ; vid* the Direction of the Rays of 
the Luminous Body to that of the Opake, and the direction of rays by 
reflection to the other opake Body. 

Yours, etc. 

Benj n " Thompson. 
N. B. From the sun to the Earth, Reflected to the moon at an 
angle of 40 Degrees." 



174 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The contemporary opinions regarding a boy of sixteen who was in 
the habit of writing letters like this must have varied a good deal 
according to the different standpoints of the individuals observing him. 
While the Cambridge professor may have considered him a youth of 
supreme promise, a plain Woburn farmer, like Josiah Pierce, Jr., his 
stepfather, may have shaken his head in a vague distrust and said, as 
did Daniel Webster's mother, in her disappointment and disgust, 
when she learned that her son, soon after his admission to the bar, had 
declined the office of clerk of the courts for Hillsborough County, 
«' Well, Daniel, I always thought you would turn out to be something 
or nothing." 

In 1772 Thompson was engaged to teach the public school in Con- 
cord, N. H., whither he went not long after the 15th of June. This 
was then a rural town which had been chartered by the general court 
of Massachusetts Bay in 1726, and settled immediately afterwards by 
a colony of carefully selected yeomen, mostly from the towns of 
Andover, Bradford, and Haverhill. During the two last French and 
Indian wars it had been a frontier town and had suffered at times from 
Indian incursions. It was at this time nearly fifty-eight years old and 
had a population of not quite one thousand people, nearly all of whom 
were engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

When its charter was granted the township was supposed to be 
within the limits of Massachusetts, but the determination of the bound- 
ary line between the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire 
in 1 74 1 by King George the second transferred it to the latter, with 
the express proviso that any change of territorial lines should in no 
wise affect the title to private property. 

This proviso, however, was at once ignored by a company of land 
speculators styled the Proprietors of Bow, who, by virtue of a subse- 
quent grant made in 1727 by the general assembly of New Hamp- 
shire, claimed substantially all the territory included in the earlier 
grant by Massachusetts above mentioned. 

Inasmuch as the body of the Bow proprietors was composed largely 
of the members of the several departments of the New Hampshire 
provincial government and their relations, any effort which they might 
make to expel the Massachusetts settlers seemed sure of success. 

In 1749 such an attempt was commenced by the service of writs of 
ejectment upon individual proprietors, returnable to the New Hamp- 
shire court of common pleas. In every instance judgment was ren- 
dered for the plaintiff and in every instance an appeal was taken to the 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 175 

superior court where the judgment of the inferior court was uniformly 
affirmed. Dispossession appeared certain, inasmuch as every tract 
sued for was of a less value than one hundred pounds, the lowest 
amount for which an appeal was allowed to the home courts in Eng- 
land. But "The wisest plans o 1 mice and men gang aft agley." 
Realizing the gravity of their situation and that their strength was in 
their union, the Concord settlers assembled in town meeting in their 
little log meeting house, and voted to defend, at the general expense, 
every suit brought against a proprietor of the township. While the 
motto of the plaintiffs seems to have been, "Let him take who has the 
power ! " that of the defendants was, " and let him keep who can ! " 

Later, when the time had fully come, the latter dispatched 1 their 
town minister, Rev. Timothy Walker, to the court of St. James, there 
to lay before his majesty in council a statement of the injustice sought 
to be done them in direct disregard of the proviso before mentioned. 
Through his counsel, Sir William Murray, afterwards Chief Justice 
Mansfield, the pastor of this little flock in the wilderness made 
known to that august tribunal that it was not simply the title to a few 
acres of land of a less value than one hundred pounds which was in 
issue, but the title to a whole township. 

Besides being in control of the New Hampshire government and its 
courts, the Bow proprietors were rich and influential in England as 
well as in New Hampshire. The Concord proprietors were rich only 
in courage and in the justice of their cause. The progress of their 
suit was hindered by every obstacle known to their opponents, so that 
the proceedings dragged wearily along year after year. The minister 
made no less than six three months' voyages to and from England on 
his desperate mission. As before stated, the first action had been 
commenced in the provincial court in 1749. Final judgment against 
the Bow proprietors was not obtained until December, 1762. During 
these thirteen years a continuous warfare had been maintained both at 
home and abroad. Concord was allowed no town government during 
this period, and not until the royal governor had retired forever from 
New Hampshire and a state government was established in 1776, was 
she allowed representation in its general court. 

It would be hard to suppose that such treatment should have endeared 
to the hearts of the people of this little town on the Merrimack their 
civil rulers either at home or abroad, or should have caused them a few 
years later to hesitate which cause to espouse when the question of 
equal rights and national freedom came before them for their decision. 
They had fought the French and Indians without intimidation ; they 



176 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

had fearlessly measured lances with the Bow proprietors, and with the 
provincial government, which attempted to tax them while denying 
them representation in its general assembly. 

Why need we fear lest they hesitate which side to take a few years 
later, when the denial of colonial representation in parliament, the 
restriction of colonial commerce, and the arbitrary and wasteful mis- 
management of colonial forests, had roused the people of every province 
from New Hampshire to Georgia to a settled resistance to British 
tyranny and to a demand for American freedom. 

Indeed, a little close reading clearly shows that the American Revo- 
lution began soon after the capitulation of Montreal in 1761 and the 
termination of French rule in America ; and that it was the result of 
discordant views held respectively by Great Britain and her American 
colonies. The mistaken scheme of taxing these by acts of parliament, 
while denying them representation, seems to have been devised by a 
little junto of placemen for their own special benefit. John Adams 
said to the people of Massachusetts on the 30th day of January, 1775, 
that "Their design was, that the money [thus raised] should be 
applied, first in a large salary to the governor. This would gratify 
Bernard's avarice, and then it would render him and all other gov- 
ernors not only independent of the people, but still more absolutely a 
slave to the will of the minister. They intended likewise a salary for 
the lieutenant-governor. This would appease in some degree the 
knawings of Hutchinson's avidity, in which he was not a whit behind 
Bernard himself. In the next place they intended a salary to the 
judges of the common law as well as admiralty. And thus the whole 
government, executive and judicial, was to be rendered wholly inde- 
pendent of the people, (and their representatives rendered useless, 
insignificant and even burthensome), and absolutely dependent upon, 
and under the direction of, the will of the minister of state. They 
intended further to new model the whole continent of North America, 
make an entire new division of it into distinct, though more extensive 
and less numerous colonies, to sweep away all the charters upon the 
continent with the destroying besom of an act of parliament, and 
reduce all the governments to the plan of the royal governments, with 
a nobility in each colony, not hereditary indeed at first, but for life." 

The public discussions of these measures made generally apparent 
the hard selfishness of the representatives of the mother country, and 
revealed to the American people their natural rights. Indeed, before 
the first gun was fired at Lexington the American Revolution had 
been effected in the minds and hearts of the American people. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 177 

It is to the honor of our New Hampshire forefathers that, when the 
association test was presented to them for their signatures in 1776, 
eight thousand four hundred and seventy-seven subscribed to it their 
names; while only six hundred and ninety-eight withheld them. You 
remember how that brief pledge reads : "We, the Subscribers, do here- 
by solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our Power, 
at the Risque of our Lives and Fortunes, with Arms oppose the Hostile 
Proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies against the United 
American Colonies." 

In the eighth volume of our published State Papers you may find all 
these names. In fifty-seven of the eighty-seven towns and places of 
New Hampshire, not a man withheld his name, although his signature 
exposed his estate to confiscation and his neck to the halter. 

In Concord loyalty to liberty was intense. Its citizens were all 
patriots, and, feeling that he who was not with them was against them, 
were jealous of every individual who was not outspoken in favor of the 
American cause. 

The object of this digression from the line of my narrative has been 
to show the character of the people among whom Thompson came to 
live at a time when the relations between England and her American 
colonies were strained near to breaking. As you very well remember, 
four years before this British soldiers had been placed in Boston to 
overawe its inhabitants. In 1770 had occurred what is known in 
history as the Boston Massacre. The next year after Thompson's 
advent to Concord, the tea sent to Boston by the East India Company 
was poured into the docks, and shortly afterwards the Boston Port Bill 
cruelly isolated the inhabitants of this devoted town, and thrilled with 
poignant indignation patriotic hearts throughout the colonies. The 
time of Thompson's advent was one of universal anxiety from the 
Piscataqua to the Savannah. 

There is little evidence that Thompson, then but nineteen years of 
age, was deeply impressed by the seriousness of this universal feeling. 
His work was a definite one and absorbed the most of his time. Like 
many others, he may not have appreciated the gravity of the situation, 
and have hoped that in a short time existing differences might be rec- 
onciled. He found in the little, plucky, patriotic town to which he 
had come a few persons who sympathized with him in his fondness for 
natural science. The minister was a graduate of Harvard, as was 
also his son. So also was Dr. Peter Green, who, with Dr. Philip 
Carrigain and Dr. Ebenezer Harnden Goss, then composed the 
medical fraternity of the town. 



178 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Nor was Concord then without agreeable female society. Promi- 
nent in the circle of ladies was the young widow of the late Col. 
Benjamin Rolfe, who had died the previous December, leaving to her 
and to an only son two years old, subsequently known as Col. Paul 
Rolfe, the finest residence and largest estate in the town. She was 
the daughter of the minister and the sister of his only son, then one of 
the foremost men of the place. It was natural that Thompson should 
early make this widow's acquaintance. It is not surprising that his 
agreeable presence and charming conversation should have made him 
a welcome visitor at her house. While he was all through life a 
scientific rather than an amiable man, yet his powers of pleasing were 
very great, and he could be charming when he tried to be. 

Thompson was a man who saw opportunities clearly and embraced 
them promptly. It is unimportant that we trace his movements 
during the first six months of his residence in Concord, but your 
speaker must not forget to mention that he has in his possession a 
marriage license dated November 14, 1772, and signed by Gov. John 
Wentworth, authorizing any minister in the province of New Hamp- 
shire " To join together in Holy Matrimony Benjamin Thompson 
and Sarah Rolfe, unless some lawfull impediment appears to you to the 
contrary.'" None seems to have appeared and the marriage was sol- 
emnized. 

Soon after his marriage Thompson made the acquaintance of the 
provincial governor, John Wentworth, and they impressed one 
another favorably. They possessed congenial tastes and a like love of 
natural science. The governor showed marked attentions to his new 
acquaintance, doubtless influenced thereto partly by friendship and in 
part by a desire to secure at the centre of the province a man of the 
power and influence which Thompson was likely to have on account 
of his marked intellectual ability and family wealth. 

The gratification afforded Thompson by these attentions is clearly 
evinced in a letter, still preserved, written by him about this time to his 
friend, the Rev. Samuel Williams, a man possessed of tastes similar 
to his own. It is dated Concord, January 18, 1773. In it he says: 
*' Last Friday, I had the honour to wait upon his Excellency, Gov- 
ernor Wentworth, at Portsmouth, when I was very politely and 
agreeably entertained for the space of an hour and a half. I had not 
been in his company long before I proceeded upon business, viz., to 
ask his Excellency whether ever the White mountains had been sur- 
veyed. He answering me in the negative, I proceeded to acquaint 
him that there was a number of persons who had thought of making an 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 179 

expedition that way, next summer, and asked him, whether it would 
be agreeable to his Excellency. He said it would be extremely agree- 
able, seemed excessively pleased with the plan, promised to do all in his 
power to forward it, — said that he had a number of Mathematical in- 
struments (such as two or three telescopes, Barometer, Thermometer, 
Compass, &c.) at Wentworth House, (at Wolf borough, only about 30 
miles from the mountains) all which, together with his library, should 
be at our service. That he should be extremely glad to wait on us, 
and to crown all, he promised, if there was no public business which 
rendered his presence at Portsmouth absolutely necessary, that he 
would take his tent equipage and go with us to the mountain, and tarry 
with us, and assist us in our survey, which, he said, he supposed 
would take about 12 or 14 days ! ! ! 

" My dear Mr. Williams, is not this a sweet gentleman? one ex- 
actly suited to our taste, — how charming ! how condescending! How- 
easy and pleasant in conversation ! But you can form no adequate 
idea of him till you have been in his company. 1 ' 

If you have followed me between the lines as I have read extracts 
from this letter, you have doubtless perceived not only that our last 
provincial governor was an accomplished courtier, but that he had in 
Thompson a most promising pupil, who in subsequent years most 
fully developed at foreign courts the principles which he had first 
learned at our provincial capitol. 

But a particular intimacy of Thompson with the royal governor and 
his Tory friends could have afforded but slight, if any, gratification to 
his venerable father-in-law and to the people of Concord in view of their 
past experiences with some of these gentlemen in the legal controversy 
before mentioned, and of impending events. We are not surprised, 
however, that Thompson was flattered by the attentions lavished upon 
him, inasmuch as he was at the date of this letter but twenty years old, 
and possessed neither the experience of age nor the traditions of the 
locality of which he had been, for a short time only, a resident. Thus 
far his attention had been chiefly devoted to science, and very little, if 
any, to politics. At this critical time, when every man was watching 
every other man, he seems to have been strangely oblivious of the sus- 
picions which his conduct excited, or was foolishly indifferent to them. 

Possibly a consciousness of possessing a wider intelligence than that 
of which most persons about him could boast, together with a fancied 
security of position, based largely upon the possessions of his wife, 
may have given rise to a hauteur of manner certain to render him un- 
popular where democratic ideas were in vogue and the royal cause had 
no advocates. 



180 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Two incidents should be noted here which excited strong suspicions 
that he was unfriendly to American liberty. 

i . He had become a farmer soon after his marriage and had hired 
two laborers, who, as he subsequently learned, were deserters from the 
British army. These he sent back to Boston with a letter addressed to 
General Gage, in which he interceded for the pardon of their offence. 

2. In 1773 three new regiments were added to the provincial 
militia. Of one of these Governor Wentworth made him the major, 
to the great dissatisfaction of others to whom military experience, longer 
residence in New Hampshire, and greater age gave superior claims to 
the position. 

Both of these incidents intensified the hostility with which he was 
now regarded. So strong had become the distrust of his patriotism in 
the summer of 1774, that he was summoned before a committee of the 
citizens of Concord to answer to the vague charge of being unfriendly 
to liberty. He met the accusation by a prompt denial, and, as no 
proof was produced to support it, he was discharged. But the general 
prejudice, not allayed by his denial and discharge, had so increased by 
the autumn of that year as to endanger his personal security. Real- 
izing at length the gravity of his position, he secretly withdrew to 
his native town of Woburn, leaving behind him his wife and infant 
child. 

The flight of Major Thompson and the occasion for it caused great 
discomfort to his father-in-law who was intensely patriotic, in both 
head and heart, whose only son and other two sons-in-law, loyal to the 
American cause, were soon to become active participants in the clash 
of arms which eventually gained us our independence. His wife, who 
shared their sentiments, doubtless wept bitterly that her husband had 
lost the confidence of her neighbors and been branded as an enemy of 
popular liberty. 

That the popular suspicion as to Major Thompson's political principles 
at this time were well founded I can hardly believe. I incline rather to the 
opinion that an indignant pride, coupled with a sense of unfair treat- 
ment, sealed his lips at a time when an open statement of his real 
views would have saved him from the indignities heaped upon him, 
and opened to him an American career both brilliant and important. 

This opinion I base quite largely upon letters which he wrote from 
time to time to his father-in-law, after leaving Concord. I beg leave 
to read to you brief extracts from one or two of these. 

In one dated December 24, 1774, about a month after his departure 
from Concord, he savs : 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 181 

" Reverend Sir. The time and circumstances of my leaving the 
town of Concord have, no doubt, given you great uneasiness, for which 
I am extremely sorry. Nothing short of the most threatening danger 
could have induced me to leave my friends and family ; but when I 
learned from persons of undoubted veracity, and those whose friend- 
ship I could not suspect, that my situation was reduced to this dreadful 
extremity, I thought it absolutely necessary to abscond for a while, 
and seek a friendly asylum in some distant part. 

"The plan against me was deeply laid and the people of Concord 
were not the only ones that were engaged in it. But others, to the 
distance of twenty miles, were extremely officious on this occasion. My 
persecution was determined on and my flight unavoidable. And had 
I not taken the opportunity to leave the town the moment I did, 
another morning had effectually cut off my retreat." 

When Major Thompson left Concord, he went to Woburn as before 
stated. It has been said that he participated in the resistance to the 
British troops at Lexington, but I fear upon insufficient authority. 
Reports at Woburn started probably by individuals among the New 
Hampshire troops quartered in and about Cambridge, led to his arrest 
a second time at Woburn, on the 15th day of May, 1775, upon the 
charge of being inimical to American liberty. After an irksome de- 
tention, he was brought before the town committee and examined. 
Here, as previously at Concord, the charge was sustained by no proof 
and he was discharged, but for some reason without exoneration. He 
retired from the presence of the committee feeling that he had been 
unfairly treated. Indignant and discouraged, he passed an uncom- 
fortable summer and autumn in his native town and its vicinity. 
There, persecuted and disgusted, he found not the asylum which he 
sought, within the American lines. In the autumn he passed without 
them and entered Boston. This act ends that period of his history 
from which we are to form our opinions of the reasons which induced 
him to become a Tory. 

But before drawing such conclusions as we may upon this question, 
I deem it fair both to you and to him to present a few extracts from 
another letter to his father-in-law, written after his second trial and 
dated August 14, 1775. In this he says: 

" I am not so thoroughly convinced that my leaving the town of 
Concord was wrong (considering the circumstances at the time) as I 
am that it was wrong in me to do it without your knowledge or advice. 
This, Sir, is a step which I have always repented, and for which I am 
now sincerely and heartily sorry and ask your forgiveness. 
13 



182 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

" As to my being instrumental in the return of some Deserters by 
procuring them a pardon I freely acknowledge that I was. But will 
you give me leave to say that what I did was done from principles the 
most unexceptionable — the most disinterested — a sincere desire to 
serve my King and Country, and from motives of Pity to those unfor- 
tunate Wretches who had deserted the service to which they had volun- 
tarily and solemnly tyed themselves and to which they were desirous of 
returning. 

" But as to * * * maintaining a long and ex- 

pensive correspondence with G — r W — th or a suspicious correspond- 
ence, to say the least, with G — rs W — th and G — e, I would beg 
leave to observe, That at the time Governor Wentworth first honored 
me with his notice, it was at a time when he was as high in the esteem 
of his people in general as was any Governor in America, — At a time 
when even Mr. Sullivan was proud to be thought his friend. 

" Tis true, Sir, I always thought myself honored with his friendship, 
and was even fond of a correspondence with him, — a correspondence 
which was purely private and friendly, and not Political, and for which 
I cannot find in my Heart to either express my sorrow or ask forgiveness 
of the Public. 

"As to maintaining a correspondence with Governor Gage, this part 
of the charge is intirely without foundation, as I never received a letter 
from him in my life ; nor did I ever write him one, except about a half 
a dozen lines which I sent him just before I left Concord, may be called a 
Letter, and which contained no intelligence, nor any thing of a public 
nature, but was only to desire that the soldiers who returned from Con- 
cord might be ordered not to inform any person by whose intercession 
their pardon was granted them. 

********** 

« ' And notwithstanding I have the tenderest regard for my wife and 
family, and really believe I have an equal return of Love and affection 
from them ; though I feel the keenest distress at the thoughts of what 
Mrs. Thompson and my Parents and friends will suffer on my account, 
and though I foresee and realize the distress, poverty and wretchedness 
that must unavoidably attend my Pilgrimage in unknown lands, desti- 
tute of fortune, friends and acquaintance, yet all these Evils appear to 
me more tolerable than the treatment which I meet with from the 
hands of my ungrateful countrymen. 



Rev<* Tim Walker." 



Your dutiful and Affectionate Son, 

Benj n Thompson. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 183 

Neglected, insulted, and repulsed, he remained until November, 
when in despondency he withdrew within the British lines around Bos- 
ton and sought protection from the British army. 

What considerations his venerable father-in-law may have urged 
upon Major Thompson to secure his adherence to the patriot cause can 
be inferred only from the letters of the latter. Those of the former 
have not been preserved. We are also in ignorance of the efforts put 
forth to that end by his wife, whose patriotism was undoubted, as also 
of the persuasions of his. brother-in-law, the late Judge Timothy 
Walker, who had one or more interviews with him after he left Concord. 
But we do know that, whatever these may have been, they were all of 
no avail. Thompson's proud spirit and the animosity of his enemies 
rendered each and all of them fruitless. 

From this imperfect summary of Major Thompson's career up to the 
time when he sought protection within the British lines, I must leave to 
your individual judgments the determination of his motives i'n taking 
the course which he did. After considering with considerable care the 
facts detailed in your hearing, together with others of a like character, 
in connection with their various environments, it has appeared to your 
speaker : 

1st. That he was a man of unusual intellectual power which was 
developed at a very early age. 

2d. That he possessed a very marked love for scientific knowledge. 

3d. That he was very ambitious for advancement to a social 
position above that which he had inherited. 

4th. That, ever watchful, he saw opportunities with wonderful clear- 
ness and pursued them with promptness and energy. 

5 th. That charmed with his acquaintance with the royal governor 
and with the society of the provincial capitol, he little appreciated the 
fact that such associations would create a popular distrust of his friend- 
liness to the popular cause. 

6th. That his immature age — being but twenty years old when 
brought before the Concord committee, as before stated — his want of 
experience, his pride, his imperfect appreciation of the gravity of his 
situation, and his indignation, excited by the intemperate treatment 
which he had received, all contributed to seal his lips in a silent obsti- 
nacy, which aroused a popular hatred which drove him from his home 
and from his native land. 

7th. That it was indignant despair and not choice which forced 
him within the British lines, and deprived our country of services 
which a milder treatment might have secured to it at this time of dire- 



184 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

ful need. Indeed there can be little doubt that Lorenzo Sabine was 
right when he said of him: " In the Revolutionary controversy he 
seems inclined to have been a Whig, but was distrusted by that party, 
and at length incurred their unqualified odium. Had there been less 
suspicion and more kindness, it is very probable that his talents would 
have been devoted to his country." 

8th. In fewest words and in conclusion, it seems clear that 
Major Thompson was driven by his country's friends to serve his 
country's enemies. 

But I have reached the limit of my subject and, I fear, of your 
patience. I will only add that I am confirmed in the opinion last ex- 
pressed by the friendly relations existing after the Revolution between 
Major Thompson and the people of his native country, manifested on 
their part by an invitation sent him by our government to organize 
the United States Military Academy at West Point, a service which 
foreign duties obliged him to decline ; and on his part by his subse- 
quent presentation to that academy of his whole collection of military 
drawings and models, by his generous gifts to the American Academy 
of Arts and Sciences and to Harvard College, and, also, when created 
a Count of the Holy Roman Empire by the Elector of Bavaria, by his 
choosing as its titular distinction the name of Rumford, a former 
name of the town of Concord, whose patriotic citizens, seventeen years 
before, had driven him into an exile beyond the sea, where, under 
favorable auspices, he accomplished works of vast utility to mankind, 
which have made tne fame of Count Rumford world wide and im- 
mortal. 

The committee on nominations reported the following 
names for delegates and alternates to the national con- 
vention, who were duly elected : 

DELEGATES. 

President William W. Bailey, ex officio. 

Senior Vice-President John M. Hill, ex officio. 

John B. Smith. 

Rev. Daniel C. Roberts, D. D. 

Harry P. Hammond. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 185 

ALTERNATES. 

John H. Oberly. 
Joab N. Patterson. 
Charles R. Corning. 
Charles B. Spofford. 
Christopher H. Wells. 

The meeting then adjourned to the Eagle Hotel, 
where the annual banquet was served. 

Letters of regret from Levi P. Morton, Horace Por- 
ter, Rev. E. A. Morton, Mrs. Arthur E. Clarke, and 
others, were read. 

Remarks were made by Bradbury L. Cilley, Presi- 
dent of the New Hampshire Society of Cincinnati, Rev. 
Henry E. Hovey, President of the New Hampshire 
Society of Sons of the Revolution, Henry Robinson, 
Mayor of Concord, Rev. Daniel C. Roberts, D. D., 
George A. Ramsdell, Mrs. Josiah Carpenter, Regent of 
the New Hampshire Society of Daughters of the 
American Revolution, Henry O. Kent, Governor of the 
New Hampshire Society of Colonial Wars, and Rev. 
Frank L. Phalen. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., July 9, 1896. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of 
Managers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of 
the American Revolution was held at the Pension 
Office in Concord on the 9th of July, 1896, at 2 
o'clock P. M. 



186 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The meeting was called to order by the President, 
and the reading of the records of the last meeting was 
omitted. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications, and 
the following were admitted to membership : 

George F. Perham, Nashua. 

Harry Mason, Plymouth. 

Edward E. Foster, Milford. 

Oliver H. Foster, Milford. 

Richard O. Greenleaf, Nashua. 

Fred W. Cheney, Concord. 

John A. Head, Boone, la. 

Lucien Thompson, Durham. 

George C. Roy, Concord. 

George A. Tenney, Claremont. 

Chancey Adams, Concord. 

The petitions of George B. Spalding of Syracuse, 
N. Y., for demission to the New York society, and of 
Edward R. Hutchins of Des Moines, la., for demission 
to the Iowa society, were read and granted. 

On motion of Howard L. Porter it was voted that 
the Secretary communicate with the Secretary of the 
National Society in regard to the power of a state society 
to organize a chapter in another state where there is 
already a state organization. 

On motion of Howard L. Porter it was voted that the 
President invite President William J. Tucker, of Dart- 
mouth College, to deliver the address at the next annual 
meeting. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 187 

Concord, N. H., October 14, 1896. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of 
Managers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of 
the American Revolution was held at the Pension 
Office in Concord October 14, 1896, at 2 o'clock p. m. 

No quorum being present the meeting was adjourned 
to Thursday, October 15, at the same time and place. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., October 15, 1896. 

The adjourned quarterly meeting of the Board of 
Managers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of 
the American Revolution was held at the Pension 
Office in Concord on Thursday, October 15, 1896, at 
2 o'clock P. M. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and the following were elected members 
of the society : 

Arthur W. Chase, Manchester. 

Charles E. Joslin, Keene. 

William C. Todd, Atkinson. 

Jesse H. Farwell, Detroit, Mich. 

The President read a letter from William J. Tucker, 
in which Mr. Tucker stated his inability to accept the 
invitation to deliver the next annual address. 

The President w r as continued as a committee to secure 
a speaker for the next annual meeting. 

A request from the Massachusetts society for permis- 
sion to establish a chapter in Portsmouth, N. H., was 
read by the Secretary. 



188 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Howard L. Porter offered the following resolution, 
which was adopted : 

Resolved that no charter for a chapter of the Sons 
of the American Revolution within the state of New 
Hampshire should be granted by any party or organi- 
zation other than the New Hampshire Society of Sons 
of the American Revolution, and that to those only who 
are regularly enrolled as its members. 

The meeting then adjourned. 
A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., January 13, 1897. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of Man- 
agers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution was held at the Pension Office 
in Concord on Wednesday, January 13, 1897, at 2 
o'clock P. M. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and the following were elected members 
of the society : 

Charles B. Heald, Milford. 

John Dowst, Manchester. 

The President announced that Rev. Samuel C. Bart- 
lett, D. D., of Dartmouth College, would deliver the 
annual address before the society. 

On motion of Howard L. Porter it was voted that 
the committee on the Langdon statue consist of the 
President, Thomas Cogswell, and George C. Gilmore. 

On motion of Howard L. Porter it was voted that the 
annual meeting be held on Wednesday, April 21. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



189 



Concord, N. H., January 20, 1897. 

The President this day announced the following as 
the committee on the Langdon statue : 



Thomas Cogswell, 
James A. Edgerly, 
Henry O. Kent, 



George C. Gilmore, 
Albert S. Batchellor, 
John M. Hill, 



and the President, ex officio. 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., March 26, 1897. 

A special meeting of the Board of Managers of the 
New Hampshire Society of Sons of the American 
Revolution was held at the Pension Office in Concord 
on Friday, March 26, 1897, at 2 o'clock p. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and the following named were elected 
members of the society : 



Julius C. Timson, 
Burton T. Scales, 
Harley B. Roby, 
Levi J. Ricker, 
Edward S. Burns, 
Oscar E. Young, 
Charles A. Jackson, 
Will B. Howe, 
George H. Brown, 
Harry W. Gilchrist, 



Claremont. 

Dover. 

Concord. 

North Conway. 

Boston, Mass. 

Landaff. 

Cornish. 

Concord. 

Manchester. 

Franklin. 



190 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The general committee to take charge of the arrange- 
ments for the annual meeting was selected as follows : 
Howard L. Porter, Thomas Cogswell, Arthur H. Chase, 
George C. Gilmore, Charles E. Staniels, and the Presi- 
dent, ex officio. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., April 21, 1897. 

A special meeting of the Board of Managers of the 
New Hampshire Society of Sons of the American 
Revolution was held in the Senate chamber of the State 
House on Wednesday, April 21, 1897, at 12 o'clock m. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and the following were elected members 
of the society : 

Amos S. Abbott, Concord. 

Abiel C. Abbot, West Concord. 

Andrew J. Abbott, West Concord. 

Arthur W. Gale, Concord. 

Edward B. Griffiths, Durham. 

Arioch W. Griffiths, Durham. 

Charles H. Lund, Nashua. 

Taylor D. Lakin, Greenfield. 

Winfield S. Edgerly, Concord. 

Hiram Forsaith, Manchester. 

George O. Ball, Claremont. 

The meeting then adjourned. 
A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 191 

NINTH ANNUAL MEETING, 1897. 

Concord, N. H., April 21, 1897. 

The ninth annual meeting of the New Hampshire 
Society of Sons of the American Revolution was held 
in Representatives' hall in the State House in Con- 
cord on Wednesday, April 21, 1897, at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President, 
and the reading of the records of the last meeting was 
omitted. 

The President made a few remarks on the generally 
prosperous condition of the society. 

The reports of the Secretary and Treasurer were 
read, and it was voted that they be accepted and placed 
on file. 

SECRETARY'S REPORT 
For the Year Ending April 21, 1897. 
The number of members reported at the last annual meeting 
was 212. 

During the year we have lost 6 of this number, 4 by death, and 2 
by demission. 

The members who have died during the past year are : 

Hiram K. Slayton, Manchester, July 9, 1896. 
Frank A. Colby, Berlin, July 14, 1896. 
William Rand, Rochester, September 24, 1896. 
Arthur L. Meserve, Bartlett, December 13, 1896. 

Edward R. Hutchins of Des Moines, la., was transferred to the 
Iowa society July 9, 1896, and George B. Spalding of Syracuse, 
N. Y., was transferred to the Empire State society on the same date. 

During the year we have admitted 27 new members, making a 
net gain in membership of 21. 

The present number of members is 233. 

The meetings of the Board of Managers have been held quarterly 
in accordance with the by-laws. Outside the routine business of the 
Board, but one subject of particular importance has arisen to claim its 
consideration. That was a request from the Massachusetts society for 
our consent to the organization of a chapter of that society in the city 
of Portsmouth, where a number of Massachusetts members reside. 



192 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



After careful consideration, the Board, acting on its own best judg- 
ment and on the opinion of the Secretary-General, unanimously 
declined to give its consent. The Massachusetts members then 
formed a society called the Paul Jones Club instead of the chapter as 
originally intended. This proposal was made, and our refusal given, 
in a spirit of perfect friendliness, and the relations between the two 
societies remain as cordial as ever. 
Respectfully submitted, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



TREASURER'S REPORT 




For Year Ending April 21, 1897. 


Receipts. 


From balance from last year ...... $62.76 


sale of banquet tickets, 1896 . 






88.50 


sale of rosettes 






13.00 


certificates .... 






17.00 


admission fees 






30.00 


dues for year ending April, 1895 






1. 00 


" 1896 






1 1 .00 


.< l897 






164.00 


" 1898 






3.00 


Total .... 


$390.26 


Expenditures 




For dues to National Society . 


$55-75 


banquet, 1896 .... 






103.50 


services of Secretary 






20.00 


printing and postage 






26.19 


rosettes ..... 






12.00 


certificates .... 






14.00 


express ..... 






2.15 


miscellaneous .... 






1. 41 


Total .... 


. $235.00 


Cash on hand .... 






155.26 



Respectfully submitted. 



$390.26 



Otis G. Hammond, Treasurer. 




Howard L,. Porter. 
1897. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 193 

On motion of Thomas Cogswell it was voted that the 
President appoint a committee of five to nominate a list 
of officers for the ensuing year, and of delegates to the 
national convention to be held at Cleveland, Ohio, on 
the 30th of April. 

The President appointed Thomas Cogswell, John B. 
Smith, Charles B. SpofTord, Fred Leighton, and Charles 
E. Staniels a committee for that purpose. 

On motion of George C. Gilmore it was voted that 
the Board of Managers meet and report upon the appli- 
cations now in their hands. 

The Board retired, and on their return the Secretary 
reported that all applications had been accepted. 

The Secretary then read a circular letter in regard to 
the next national convention, one from the Nebraska 
society in regard to the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, 
and one from the Anna Stickney Chapter of Daughters 
of the American Revolution in regard to the proposed 
convention of all New England patriotic societies at 
North Conway, N. H., in July next. He also urged 
upon the members the importance of marking the graves 
of Revolutionary soldiers. 

The committee on nominations reported the following : 

PRESIDENT. 

Howard L. Porter, Concord. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

Josiah Carpenter, Manchester. 

Joshua G. Hall, Dover. 

William S. Balcom, Claremont. 

SECRETARY AND TREASURER. 

Otis G. Hammond, Concord. 

HISTORIAN. 

Howard F. Hill, Concord. 



194 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

REGISTRAR. 

John C. Ordvvay, Concord. 

CHAPLAIN. 

Rev. Daniel C. Roberts, D. D., Concord. 



BOARD OF MANAGERS. 



George C. Gilmore, 
Charles B. SpofTord, 
Thomas Cogswell, 
Winfield S. Edgerly, 
Fred Leighton, 
Stephen S. Jewett, 
Arthur H. Chase, 



Manchester. 

Claremont. 

Gilmanton. 

Concord. 

Concord. 

Laconia. 

Concord. 



FINANCE COMMITTEE. 



George B. Chandler, 
Thomas P. Cheney, 
Harley B. Roby, 



Manchester. 

Ashland. 

Concord. 



DELEGATES TO NATIONAL CONVENTION. 

President Howard L. Porter, Concord, 

Sen. V. P. Josiah Carpenter, Manchester, 

Jesse H. Farwell, Detroit, Mich., 

Charles H. Greenleaf, Boston, Mass., 

Charles E. B. Roberts, Plover, la., 

and that each delegate be authorized to appoint an 
alternate. 

Voted that this report be accepted and that the Secre- 
tary cast one ballot for the names reported by the com- 
mittee. 

This was accordingly done, and they were declared 
elected. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 195 

On motion of Arthur H. Chase it was voted that the 
proceedings of the society from its organization be printed 
during the ensuing year, and that the President appoint 
a committee of three, of which the Secretary should be 
chairman, for that purpose. 

The President then introduced Rev. Samuel C. Bart- 
lett, D. D., LL.D., of Dartmouth College, who de- 
livered the annual address. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

The part taken by New Hampshire in the American Revolution has 
not been fully told. This small state was then a great force. No 
body of foreign soldiers ever fought their way into her territory, but 
in the Revolutionary war her soldiers fought, and fought well, in all 
the chief battles from Canada to Virginia. And it is because of this 
generous haste to the outside rescue that their valorous deeds have 
been blended and merged in the narratives of other localities, and 
have failed to attract the distinctive credit which was their due. 

There was an early and remarkable unanimity of sentiment through- 
out the colony in regard to the coming issue, and, when the issue was 
joined, an alertness to meet it not surpassed in any other common- 
wealth. The first cargo of taxed tea, (June 25, 1774), was at once 
reshipped ; the second likewise, and the consignee narrowly escaped 
violence for his delay. For already, (in May), the assembly had 
appointed a committee of correspondence looking towards a Conti- 
nental Congress. The amiable and unfortunate royal governor had 
dissolved the assembly. The dissolved assembly immediately crystal- 
ized again in the usual place. The governor brought the sheriff, who 
ordered them to disperse. They dispersed — to another house. 
There the}- proceeded, religiously, appointing a fast ; politically, calling 
another assembly ; and financially, raising a provincial tax. The new 
assembly chose two delegates to the Congress, and called for contribu- 
tions to beleaguered and suffering Boston. When Boston workmen 
had refused to build barracks for their British masters, and our 
Governor Wentworth had privately employed an agent to procure 
carpenters in New Hampshire, the Portsmouth committee had sum- 
moned the agent and made him apologize on his knees. 

In September, 1774, the Congress recommended to the colonists 
to be " prepared for every emergency"; and the committee prepared. 
Just before the coming of the frigate Scarborough with a body of 



19G PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

troops, they seized Fort William and Mary, capturing its small garri- 
son, carrying off fifteen cannon, all the small arms, and a hundred 
barrels of powder, part of which afterward sped the bullets at Bunker 
Hill. They were led by Major Sullivan and Captain Langdon. It 
was the first armed resistance in the Revolution. Men of New Hamp- 
shire made it. 

The governor dismissed from public trust all the men engaged in 
this enterprise, and issued a warning to the people against "the false 
arts of abandoned men/ 1 The next month the convention also issued 
its warning to the people, and exhorted them to learn one of those 
"arts*' — the military art. Military train-bands sprang up at the 
call. 

By the then existent militia law, thanks to the French and Indian 
wars, every male inhabitant from sixteen years old to sixty was to 
have his gun and bayonet, cartridge box and knapsack, a pound of 
powder, twenty bullets, and twelve flints. Although the interval of 
peace and the cost of equipments had caused some neglect, the very 
scantiness of ammunition, as the enemy soon found, had made careful 
and skilful marksmen. 

The breach between the royal governor and the resolute assembly 
steadily widened, and the people grimly waited. The crisis came in 
the spring. On the 14th of April, 1775, General Gage in Boston 
had received Lord North's " conciliatory proposition " with its double 
edge — ostensibly home rule, enforced by British troops. He had 
orders to make the experiment, and he made it with both edges on 
the 1 8th. He called an assembly for "reconciliation," and the 
same night sent troops to seize the magazine at Concord. The first 
blood shed at Lexington on the way shocked the colonists just as the 
cannon at Fort Sumter, in the same month eighty-six years later, 
shocked the nation. 

The crisis had come, and in New Hampshire men and women, old 
men and boys, sprang to meet it. News reached the little town of 
Salisbury on the next forenoon. Mrs. Mehitable Pettingill sent for 
her sixteen-year-old son, the oldest of six children, but Benjamin by 
name, who was at work in the field with his father, made him up a 
small bundle and started him for Cambridge with his father's musket — 
a musket which he fired on many a battle-field. A band of his towns- 
men went with him. From Boscawen, Captain Gerrish and sixteen 
men next day were on the march. Captain Chandler and thirty-six 
men hurried on from Concord. Colonel Cilley started with a hundred 
volunteers from Nottingham, and John Taylor Gilman with another 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 197 

hundred from Exeter. There were sixty from Hampton with Dear- 
born, forty-six from Temple, twenty-two from Swanzey. McClary left 
his plough in the field at Epsom. Worcester of Hollis dropped his 
razor, unused, to spread the alarm ; and the three Nevins brothers 
drew out their crowbars and left the big stone propped on a boulder 
for seventy years, to make with eighty-seven others a night march to 
Cambridge. John Stark shut down his saw mill gate, hastened to his 
house, and in ten minutes more was on horseback headed for the 
fray. Two thousand New Hampshire men were flocking thither. 
Many were sent back to plant their crops, but enough remained with 
Stark and Reed to constitute, together with the three hundred New 
Hampshire troops in Prescott's special command, unquestionably more 
than half, it not two thirds, of the fifteen hundred men that fought 
the battle of Bunker Hill. On that day Stark instantly saw and seized 
the weak and dangerous spot ; and there his two regiments calmly 
waited behind the breastwork of rails and hay till the British troops, 
led by General Howe in person, came to the dead-line stake which 
Stark had planted forty yards in front, then again and again mowed 
them down, till of seven hundred Welch Fusileers, ( says Stark's 
Life), but eighty-three next morning answered to the roll-call. When 
Prescott's redoubt was captured and further resistance hopeless, Stark 
mastered the retreat and drew off his reluctant men as coolly as he had 
entered from Charlestown Neck between the cross-fires of the Lively 
and the floating batteries. Without our troops that battle might 
have been fought; but for them the retreat would have been a rout. 

Then came a temporary pause, the pause of a spinning top ; 
a whirl of excitement, military ardor and training, not without 
excesses. The royal governor had fallen on evil times, and was con- 
strained into conflict with the people. A clamorous royalist, sheltered 
in his house, was persuaded forth by a cannon planted before the 
door. The governor withdrew to the fort, to the frigate Scarborough, 
to Boston, to the Isles of Shoals, to Halifax. His house was pillaged 
after he left it. So disappeared in the flurry of the rising storm the 
liberal-minded and accomplished gentleman who gave its charter to 
Dartmouth College. 

The convention now seized the whole administration, and appointed 
a committee of safety, instructed in true Roman style to see " that the 
public sustain no damage.'''' The committee organized companies of 
rangers and artillery, and twelve regiments of infantry, four of them 
" minute men." I have a yellow document dated at East Kingston a 
fortnight before the battle of Bennington, signed by Enoch Chase 

14 



198 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

and thirteen others, who engaged to be ready "at a minute's warn- 
ing'* to march to any part of the New England states. It was but 
one of many. There was in many places an "alarm list," in one of 
which, (Salisbury), I find the names of the minister, the town physi- 
cian — my grandfather — and three deacons. 

Meanwhile the home work of the Revolution went vigorously on. 
The convention in December, 1775, adopted a state constitution. It 
was the first of the colonies to do so. On the following 15th of June 
it instructed Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, and Matthew Thorn- 
ton to vote in Congress for " declaring the thirteen united colonies a 
free and independent state " ; and the first man in Congress to cast his 
vote in the roll-call on the declaration of independence was Josiah 
Bartlett, who boldly answered " Yes." 

The people stood firmly behind their leaders. Already, in April, 
the written pledge had gone through the state, whereby every male 
citizen over twenty-one years of age was "solemnly to engage at the 
risk of life and fortune, with arms, to oppose the hostile proceedings 
of the British fleets and armies against the United Colonies of 
America." In some towns, as in Concord, Gilsum, Newport, Surrey, 
not a man refused to sign ; in Boscawen but one, and that not from 
lack of patriotism but excess of crankiness ; in Salisbury but two, 
one of them a Quaker, the other an actual helper in the cause. It has 
been said with apparent truth that loyalty to the cause of freedom was 
more unanimous here than in any other colony. Royalists abounded 
in New York. South Carolina was for a time divided, and in North 
Carolina and Virginia there were armed conflicts. When the British 
troops evacuated patriotic Boston they escorted more than a thousand 
rovalists to Halifax. In the whole state of New Hampshire there were 
but seven hundred and forty-three persons who, as Quakers and for 
other reasons, refused to sign the pledge of armed resistance. The 
convention found occasion to proscribe but seventy-six persons who 
had abandoned the state, and to confiscate the property of but twenty- 
eight of these. 

Indeed the royalists led but a hare's life in New Hampshire. One 
day early in 1775, while the British were in Boston and the men of 
Hollis were at Cambridge, a mounted Hollis "suspect," bearing 
despatches from Canada to Boston came to Jewett's Bridge on Nashua 
River. There he had a "reception" by a company of women led by 
a Hollis-born woman and armed with pitchforks and muskets, who 
dismounted him, took the despatches from his boots, and delivered 
him into custody. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 199 

Our troops were constantly in the service from April, 1775, till 
1783, marching, fighting, or enduring worse things than fighting, 
such as the terrible scourge of the small-pox and the camp fever at 
Canada and Crown Point, the march thence marked by bleeding feet, 
and the dire destitution of Valley Forge. On one march a thou- 
sand men went barefoot. 

After the battle of Bunker Hill three of our regiments remained 
till Boston was evacuated, then were sent to New York, and soon on 
the fruitless expedition ordered by Congress, to Canada. While 
these were on the way to Montreal which was captured, our Dear- 
born with a small body of our men accompanied Arnold on that 
distressing march to Quebec through the wilderness of Maine, where 
the men begged Dearborn's dog for food and made soup of his bones. 
Our Sullivan, who succeeded the reckless Arnold in command, 
though failing in his attack on Three Rivers, brought off the army by 
a skilful retreat, for which he received the official thanks of Congress 
and the warm personal thanks of his brilliant circle of field officers, 
including Stark, Reed, Poor, Wayne, and St. Clair. Captured on 
Long Island, he was exchanged in season to command one of the 
two attacking divisions at Trenton, with John Stark at its head. 
Though their arms were wet and nearly useless, yet with fixed bayo- 
nets and three cheers they drove all before them, and, nobly seconded 
by Greene's division, finished the fight in thirty-five minutes. A week 
later, at Princeton, Stark's and Reed's regiments did gallant service 
in driving back and routing the British Fortieth and Fifty-Fifth. 

It was these two battles, Trenton and Princeton, which at home 
and abroad, in Washington's dark days, began the reaction in his 
favor. Our men had outstayed by six weeks the term of their enlist- 
ment to fight these very battles. 

By an amazing blunder, with outside pressure, Congress had super- 
seded Stark and he resigned. But the country's emergency called 
him forth. From Bunker Hill to Yorktown there was no greater 
danger and no more critical affair than at Bennington. And there the 
part of New Hampshire was as signal as at Bunker Hill. When 
Burgoyne came down along Lake Champlain with his select army of 
seven thousand German and British troops, to be joined by Tories 
and Indians, and to be met by Clinton from below, it meant the 
isolation and subjection of New England, to be followed by the easy 
conquest of the other colonies. By the abandonment of Ticonderoga 
through Schuyler's neglect to heed Trumbull's warning, the way was 
open and Burgoyne was on the way, and a panic before him. A 



200 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

message of alarm came from the Catamount Tavern in Vermont, 
to Massachusetts and New Hampshire, for help or all was lost. Only 
one hundred and fifty Massachusetts troops arrived in season, and the 
good soldiers of Vermont were few, and scattered by the Hubbardton 
defeat. It was then that New Hampshire troops, led by a New Hamp- 
shire colonel, through the pledged fortune of a New Hampshire 
merchant, came to the rescue. When the appeal came our committee 
of safety faced an empty treasury. It was a dark hour for the country. 
It was then that John Langdon made his famous offer of his money 
and merchandise and the mortgage of his house and plate as a loan, 
if Stark might lead the troops ; then that Stark received his independ- 
ent command ; and then that he forgot the affront of Congress. His 
name roused enthusiasm once more. Fifteen hundred men, (1,525), 
were ready to follow him to Bennington, and those who could not go, 
to help them off. Rev. Timothy Walker stopped his Sunday services 
for the soldiers to leave the house, and shoes were made that night 
for Phineas Virgin and John Eastman to march next morning. In 
Boscawen, Mrs. Peter Kimball sat up all night to make shirts for two 
destitute men in her husband's company ; and, when left with five 
children ranging from seven years to five weeks of age, rode with her 
infant, on horseback, to the neighboring town and engaged a boy of 
fourteen to help her gather in the harvest. Andrew Bohonon's son 
Stephen, fifteen years old, joined his father, refusing to be captain's 
clerk for safety, and serving in the ranks. Augustine Hibbard, one of 
the first six graduates of Dartmouth College, schoolmaster Evans of 
Salisbury, Jeremiah Smith, future governor and chief justice, and 
Capt. Ebenezer Webster, father of Daniel, were there. Two thirds 
of the men who fought that day were New Hampshire men. And 
when that body of raw militia stormed, routed, and captured a body 
of the best regular troops of Europe, completely equipped, armed to 
the teeth, and behind their cannon and entrenchments, it was an 
exploit unequalled in that war, and seldom surpassed in any other. 
And when the battle was over New Hampshire sent her most noted 
physician, afterwards chief justice, president, and governor of the 
state, to care for the sick and wounded. 

The share of our troops in that battle was well recognized at the 
time. There fell into my hands a few days ago the faded copy of 
some stanzas written by Gen. William Chamberlain of Vermont, one 
of those who stormed the British works, and who himself brought 
away a Hessian flag. I will cite one stanza for its cheery testimony 
as well as its breezy use of the national air, then new : 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 201 

"New Hampshire boys the victory won, 

Which does them lasting 1 honor; 
Commanded by brave General Stark 

And the intrepid Warner. 
And we would right for liberty 

With Howe or Alexander, 
And never fear the face of Clay 

With Stark for our commander. 

Chorus. 

Sing Yankee Doodle, Victory, 

Sing Yankee Doodle Dandy; 
From Yankees see the British flee, 

And leave their arms quite handy." 

And when, a generation later, the old warrior stood under a tree 
and with ardent emphasis and ominous gesture shouted them in the 
ears of his ten-year-old boy, we can well credit the son that it was the 
profoundest impression of his boyhood. 

But Burgoyne had not got clearof our men. At the battle of Still- 
water, or Freeman's Farm, the first British onset was on Morgan's 
riflemen and our Dearborn's light infantry on the left ; and when 
these recoiled Poor's brigade came to their support. In this conflict, 
so fierce that two British regiments were nearly annihilated, more 
than half the American loss, according to Wilkinson's returns, fell on 
Poor's and Dearborn's troops. In eighteen days came the battle of 
Saratoga, or Bemis Heights, opened, as Hildreth records, with a 
furious charge of Poor's brigade on the British left, while, as Bancroft 
relates, Dearborn's light infantry " descended impetuously on the 
British right," — though Arnold's demoniac dash decided the day. 
That night, when the defeated Burgoyne explored for a retreat by the 
bridge of boats across the Hudson, he found John Stark and two 
thousand eight hundred New Hampshire men blockading the way. So 
came the surrender and dispersion of perhaps the blackest of the war- 
clouds. After the surrender our men marched forty miles in fourteen 
hours, fording the Mohawk, to head off General Clinton. 

When now the war moved southward the share of our troops was 
relatively less. But there were no better soldiers. They were in 
the battles of Long Island, of Germantown, and Brandywine ; and, in 
the battle of Monmouth, frustrated only by the treacherous miscon- 
duct of Charles Lee, they gained under Cilley's command the com- 
mendation of Washington for their determined stand: "I see they 
are my brave New Hampshire boys." 

It was the good fortune of our troops to be around the commander- 
in-chief in the saddest epoch of the war. The regiment of our 



202 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Moses Nichols had been assigned to the defence of West Point for a 
time. On the 25th of September, 1780, Benedict Arnold hurried 
from his breakfast table and tied to the Vulture. That evening — so 
relates Stephen Bohonon — Washington sent for Capt. Ebenezer 
Webster and requested him to order his company on guard around his 
tent that night. " For," said he, "if I cannot trust you, I cannot 
trust anybody. 11 "You may rely on me and my men," said Webster. 
Bohonon was one of those who guarded the tent while Washington 
passed an absolutely sleepless night in writing ; and Webster lived to 
cast his vote for Washington as president. 

When at length the time came to cage and capture Cornwallis, as 
had been done to Burgoyne, Washington designated two of our regi- 
ments to important posts on the Hudson, and took with himself, 
among his two thousand, Scammeirs light infantry, and Scammell 
himself as adjutant-general of the army. And in order to leave the 
north in safety he placed the northern department in charge of Stark — 
although subsequently, by the incoming of Heath, his senior officer, 
he was obliged to report to one who was at the same time his 
superior and his inferior — one whom Bancroft describes somewhat 
too severely as " vain, honest, and incompetent." There Stark re- 
mained "in exile," as he termed it, at Albany and Saratoga, longing 
to be at Yorktown. Though lacking in everything — in troops and 
supplies, even in paper on which to report to Heath — receiving but 
one payment for more than two years, but himself paying two dollars 
and a half for a pound of sugar, and twelve dollars for a gallon of 
rum, he endured, for the most part patiently, while his name and 
fame overawed the lurking bands of neighboring Tories and cowed 
all the constantly threatened invasions from Canada. 

These are some of the more salient points of our work in the 
Revolution. Many other services might be enumerated. In the 
winter of 1775, when the Connecticut troops had unexpectedly with- 
drawn from Cambridge, at the call of Washington thirty-one com- 
panies of ours, some two thousand men, promptly took their place. 
Our men were with Sullivan in his movement on the enemy in Rhode 
Island and the hot and successful battle of Butfs Hill. They were 
stationed on the Sound with a threefold outlook for protection. They 
aided in the repulse of Clinton at Springfield, N. J. Poor's brigade 
was one of the four that accompanied Sullivan in the memorable 
expedition when, in obedience to Washington's one stern command, 
"not merely to overrun but to destroy" the country, they fought the 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 203 

battle of Chemung, decided by the onset of Poor, and drove out the 
perfidious and murderous Iroquois from the beautiful valleys between 
the Susquehanna and the Genesee. 

It is neither practicable nor necessary to follow them throughout the 
war. Enough that they never failed their commanders. And they had 
but two questionable experiences. At the Cedars, in Canada, Bedell's 
regiment was surrendered by Major Butterfield, but against the remon- 
strances of his officers ; and at Hubbardton Hale's regiment, separated 
seven miles from the main body, in charge of the invalids, says Bel- 
knap, and with an invalid colonel in command, was put to flight and 
captured by Frazer. That is all. 

Nor less creditable was the quantity than the quality of our military 
contributions to the Revolution. The census of the state in 1775 
showed a population of but 80,200, or some 2,000 less than the 
present city of Worcester, Mass., and these scattered through nearly 
160 townships, three eighths of which had been incorporated less than 
ten years. But in 1775 there were 2,284 of our men in the field, 
4,019 in 1776, 4,483 in 1777, and during the war 18,289. The report 
of Secretary Knox in 1790 gives the proportion of our soldiers to the 
population as one in eleven, although his own figures would seem to 
make it greater. Massachusetts and Connecticut, from their older 
settlements, exceeded us with one in seven, and Rhode Island equalled 
us. The other states receded from one in sixteen, in nineteen, in 
twenty-two, in twenty-four, to Virginia one in twenty-eight, Georgia 
and North Carolina one in thirty-two, South Carolina one in thirty- 
eight. Freemen fought for freedom. No better blood was shed in 
the conflict than the Scotch-Irish and English blood which flowed in 
the veins of the New Hampshire troops. 

We lost some men of great promise, while some men of mark sur- 
vived. Major McClary, with his ardent spirit, resolute purpose, 
popular way, ringing voice, and gigantic stature, would have been 
heard from but for the chance shot that struck him down after the 
battle of Bunker Hill was over. Lieutenant-Colonels Colburn, Adams, 
and Conner were cut off in the desperate fights of Stillwater and Sara- 
toga. Scammel, already adjutant-general of the army, with his edu- 
cation, bravery, ability, and universal esteem, should have risen higher 
yet but for the brutal and fatal wound inflicted by the enemy after 
his capture at Yorktown. It was an evil day when the chivalrous 
Poor fell in an affair with another officer a year before the close of 
the war. Cilley, who fought under Wayne in the brilliant storming of 
Stony Point fortress, and gained Washington's approbation by his 



204 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

determined stand at Monmouth, afterwards served the state in honor- 
able posts, and the community by an admirable influence. Dearborn, 
who was with him at Monmouth and in gallant service elsewhere, 
became Jefferson's secretary of war and Monroe's minister plenipoten- 
tiary to Portugal. Sullivan, though open to criticism and the object 
of one military writer's constant invectives, is described by Bancroft 
as " not free from foibles, but active, enterprising, and able." He was 
more — he was an eminent figure. His errors were mostly born of 
his enterprise, and perhaps part of the enmities he encountered were 
the offspring of envies. Washington entrusted no other than Greene 
with so many important commands ; once protested effectually against 
a rash vote of Congress for his suspension ; and gave him the marks of 
his warm confidence not only through the war, but throughout his life. 
If he made mistakes, so did Greene, Putnam, and Wayne — not to 
mention Gates, Heath, and Schuyler. And Sullivan added to his mil- 
itary abilities in no small degree the sagacity of the lawyer, the 
wisdom of the statesman, the magnetism of the leader, and the capac- 
ity of the ruler. He proved his worth as fully in the council chamber 
as on the battle-field. Quick in discernment, prompt in action, elo- 
quent in speech, impressive in personal presence, and every inch a 
patriot, his fellow citizens invested him with every honorable and 
responsible post within their gift. Twice in Congress he served in 
committees of grave moment. At home, twice by his wisdom and 
firmness he saved the state from threatened riots ; once when as 
attorney-general he donned his old war uniform and rode beside the 
judges to the court at Keene, and again when as president of the 
assembly at Exeter he faced the angry mob that barred his way with 
loaded muskets and the call to '* fire,' 1 and that evening summoned 
the force that put them to flight. Not the least useful of his deeds 
was his double service to his state and his country when, as president 
of the convention, he strongly influenced the vote that accepted the 
national constitution and made a United States. Having thus helped 
knit the Union together and the state to the Union, he resigned the 
chief magistracy of his state to become, by appointment of his old 
commander-in-chief, the first district justice of the Union in the state, 
and to die in office, not advanced in years but old in service and honor 
and worn out with cares. The last public speech of his life was when 
he left his sick chamber to advocate the grant of 42,000 acres of wild 
lands to Dartmouth College. 

But perhaps the unique figure of all was John Stark, a trained, if 
not a born soldier. He proved equal to any emergency he ever met. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 205 

He had an instinct toward the place of weakness and danger. He 
could lead an attack, resist an assault, storm a redoubt, stand immov- 
able behind a barricade of hay, move calmly through a crossfire of 
cannon, or make a retreat as orderly as a victory. As he brought up 
the rear at Bunker Hill, so after the repulse at Three Rivers, which 
he had predicted, he and his staff were in the last boat that 
crossed St. John's in sight of the enemy. He anticipated Washing- 
ton's disapproval of the abandonment of Ticonderoga. He knew 
better than Schuyler how to deal with Burgoyne. After Stillwater 
and Saratoga he could cut off an escape. He knew, as did not all 
Washington's high officers, how to obey orders. He consented by 
his personal influence to recruit soldiers, when he would rather have 
fought battles, and in comparative idleness to report to Heath when 
he longed to be on the Cornwallis hunt. What might have been his 
success in broader commands we have no means of knowing, but he 
missed no opportunity, was never' at a loss, and, so far as appears, 
made no mistakes. When all was over he modestly retired to his 
farm for forty-five years of quiet and of honor, and lived and died an 
ancient Spartan. 

When the war was ended and the constitution of the United States 
was before the country for adoption, under intense opposition, when 
the question had been carried in Massachusetts by a vote of 187 to 
168, while two states seemed doubtful and two were dilatory, New 
Hampshire again met the crisis and by her affirmative vote secured 
the requisite two-thirds that made a nation. 

If it lay within the scope of my theme to speak of the men who in 
convention discussed that constitution, as well as of those who shaped 
the constitution of our own state. I should present a list of patriot 
civilians not unworthy to be a companion piece to the roll of patriot 
soldiers. But I must refrain. 

It is also to the special and lasting credit of this commonwealth 
that its officers, soldiers, and citizens were not only loyal to their 
country, but through all the criticism and even obliquy that were heaped 
upon him, to their great commander-in-chief. While Charles Lee was 
insolently disobeying him ; while Conway, Mifflin, Wilkinson, Wayne, 
and Gates were intriguing against him, aided for a time by Rush and 
Reed of Pennsylvania ; while under a strange but happily transient 
hallucination, such eminent patriots as Congressmen Lovell, Wil- 
liams, and Gerry of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, 
and William Ellery of Rhode Island were making or listening to talk 
for his removal ; while Congress was overriding his wishes and his 



206 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

advice; while even Samuel Adams was " impatient for more enter- 
prise, 11 and stout John Adams declared himself " weary with so much 
insipidity, and sick of Fabian systems, 11 and once exclaimed, " O 
heaven send us one great soul, 11 I cannot learn that there was ever 
placed on record from a New Hampshire officer, soldier, or citizen any 
utterance of opposition or disparagement for the man whom our own 
historian Belknap on his last page pronounced " the illustrious Wash- 
ington, 11 and whom the civilized world has since pronounced the 
peerless name in secular history. 

I have thus imperfectly sketched the distinguished part of New 
Hamphire in the Revohuion. Practically unanimous in the sentiment 
of freedom, early in its expression, determined in its maintenance, 
prompt in its enforcement, first to resort to arms, first to frame a con- 
stitution, foremost in the vote for independence, sharing in the six 
most signal battles, being in two of them the main victor, in two a 
great factor, and in the other two a volunteer and valiant force, 
present and active at the closing scene of all, ever trusty and true, 
enduring as well as fighting, responding to every call and always out- 
side of her own borders, furnishing eminent and patriotic civilians, 
distinguished officers and fearless soldiers, clenching the clasp that 
riveted the union, all and always loyal to the country and the country^ 
magnificent chieftain, — it is a heritage of which her sons, wherever 
scattered through the nation and through the world, may well be 
proud — proud to be sons of New Hampshire, and Sons of the 
American Revolution. A high ancestry. 



' Their feet had trodden peaceful ways, 
They loved not strife, they dreaded pain ; 
They saw not what to us is plain, 
That God would make man's wrath his praise. 

Swift as the summons came, they left 
The plough mid-furrow standing still, 
The half-ground corn-grist in the mill. 
The spade in earth, the axe in cleft. 

They went where duty seemed to call, 
They scarcely asked the reason why ; 
They only knew they could hut die, 
And death was not the worst of all. 

Of man for man the sacrifice, 
All that was theirs to give they gave : 
The flowers that blossomed on their grave 
Have sown themselves beneath all skies." 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 207 

On motion of Charles E. Staniels it was voted that 
the thanks of the society be extended to Dr. Bartlett for 
his address. 

On motion of Thomas Cogswell it was voted that the 
Secretary be instructed to transmit to the New Hamp- 
shire senators and representatives in Congress, and to 
the Secretary of the Navy, the protest of this society 
against the proposed removal of the Constitution from 
Portsmouth harbor. 

The President introduced Rev. Henry E. Hovey, 
President of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of 
the Revolution, who spoke strongly in favor of the reso- 
lution. 

On motion of Charles E. Staniels it was voted that 
the question of a field day be referred to the Board of 
Managers. 

On motion of Rev. Daniel C. Roberts it was voted 
that the Secretary request of Dr. Bartlett a copy of his 
address, to be printed in the proceedings of the society. 

Mr. Charles E. B. Roberts then offered the following 
resolution, which was adopted : 

Resolved that the New Hampshire Societv of Sons 
of the American Revolution most heartily approve of 
the proposed union of the Sons of the American Revo- 
lution and the Sons of the Revolution, and believe that 
such union would advance the objects for which these 
societies have been formed. 

On motion of John M. Hill it was voted that the dele- 
gates to the national convention be instructed to use 
their influence and their votes for the union of the two 
societies. 

The meeting then adjourned to the Eagle Hotel, 
where the annual banquet was served. 

After dinner, remarks were made by Gov. George A. 
Ramsdell, Albert B. Woodworth, Mayor of Concord, 



208 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Thomas Cogswell, United States pension agent, Rev. 
Henry E. Hovey, President of the New Hampshire 
Society of Sons of the Revolution, Rev. Samuel C. 
Bartlett, D. D., LL. D., Charles B. Spofford, and Rev. 
Daniel C. Roberts, D. D. 

Thomas Cogswell called attention to the presence of 
Augustus H. Stark of Manchester, a great-grandson 
of Maj.-Gen. John Stark, who was greeted with 
applause. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



Concord, N. H., July 14, 1897. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of Man- 
agers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution was held at the office of the Secre- 
tary in Concord on Wednesday, July 14, 1897, at 2 
o'clock P. M. 

The meeting was called to order by the President, and 
the reading of the records of the last meeting was 
omitted. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and the following were admitted as mem- 
bers of the society : 

Charles H. Sawyer, Dover. 

Stephen H. Gale, Exeter. 

Elbert Wheeler, Nashua. 

William H. Sisson, Cornish Flat. 

Seth M. Richards, Newport. 

John L. Fitts, Candia. 

George V. Dearborn, Nashua. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 209 

William H. Porter, Concord. 

Andrew J. Moody, Amherst. 

Edward A. Willard, New York city. 

James LeB. Willard, New York city. 

William B. Ellis, Claremont. 

The application of Byron G. Clark of New York 
city for demission to the Empire State society was read 
and granted. 

On motion of Fred Leighton it was voted that the 
committee on publication be empowered to include in 
the next publication whatever documents they might 
deem necessary to emphasize the part played by New 
Hampshire in the Revolution. 

Letters from the Nebraska Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution, and from President Hovey of the 
New Hampshire Society of Sons of the Revolution 
were read. 

On motion of Fred Leighton it was voted that this 
society hold a field day in Portsmouth in September, on 
a date to be fixed by President Porter and President 
Hovey of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of the 
Revolution. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



FIELD DAY, 1898. 

The first field day of the New Hampshire Society of 
Sons of the American Revolution was held in Ports- 
mouth, N. H., September 8, 1897. 

The following excellent account of the proceedings 
of the day was written by John Scales, and published 
in the Dover Daily Republican of September 9, 1897 : 



210 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

The Society of the Sons of the American Revolution of New Hamp- 
shire and the Sons of the Revolution had a field day in Portsmouth, 
Wednesday, the first the two societies have held together. The 
result was a very enjoyable day. Rev. Henry E. Hovey, rector of 
St. John's church, acted as guide for the occasion and proved himself 
thoroughly qualified for the duty conferred upon him. There were 
present about seventy-five Sons and Daughters of the American Rev- 
olution. 

The first place visited was St. John's (Episcopal) church. There 
Mr. Hovey made a neat little patriotic speech suitable to the 
occasion as introductory to what was in store for the visitors for the 
day. This church is finely situated on the crest of Church Hill, 
overlooking the ever-beautiful river. The present edifice was built in 
1808, on the sight of what was known as Queen's Chapel, erected in 
1732 and destroyed by fire in 1806. The chapel was named in honor 
of Queen Caroline, who furnished the books for the altar and pulpit, 
the silver plate, and two solid mahogany chairs, which are still in use 
and were shown to the visitors; also the celebrated "Vinegar 
Bible," which lies open, enclosed in a glass covered case. Within 
the chancel rail is a curious font of porphyry, taken by Col. John 
Tufton Mason at the capture of Senegal from the French in 1758 and 
presented to the Episcopal society in 1761. The French some- 
time before had captured or stolen it from a heathen temple, where 
it had been used to keep the sacred bones and relics which they wor- 
shipped. How old it is no one knows, but it is supposed by those 
who have studied the question to be at least a thousand years old. It 
is quite certain that no one can dispute the claim for great antiquity. 

There are many quaint customs handed down from the last century 
which are strictly observed by the present rector, Rev. Mr. Hovey. 
One is that each week twelve loaves of bread shall be distributed to 
the poor, a special fund having been given for that purpose. Another 
is that the house is heated entirely in cold weather by wood fires. 
This comes from the fact that a century ago or more a wealthy lady 
bequeathed two thousand dollars to the church, the income from 
which should be used to buy wood with which to heat the house. 
Mr. Hovey says the house is always warm in the coldest day. 

In the churchyard close by are buried the royal governor and 
others high in authority in the colonial period. In fact the graves of 
governors, councillors, generals, and colonels are so numerous one 
can scarcely step in the yard without stepping on the dust of some 
royal personage. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 211 

From the church the party went to the navy-yard and visited 
the famous old ship Constitution which the workmen are now 
engaged in painting, preparatory for the centennial celebration in 
Boston, which will occur in October. 

Returning to Portsmouth we visited the Warner house on the 
corner of Daniel and Chapel streets. It is a three-story building with 
gambrel roof and luthern windows. The walls are of brick which 
were brought from Holland. It was built in 1718 by Capt. Archi- 
bald Macpheadris, a wealthy merchant who married a daughter of 
Lt-Gov. John Wentworth, and sister of the first royal governor of 
New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The Wentworths lived on 
the opposite corner of Chapel street where the high school now is. 
He died in 1729, leaving a daughter Mary who married Hon. Jonathan 
Warner, a member of the King's council. His descendants still own 
the house and one of his great-granddaughters very kindly exhibited 
and gave historical sketches of the great profusion of heirlooms and 
priceless treasures. The interior is rich in paneling and wood carv- 
ings about the mantel shelves, the deep-set windows, and along the 
cornices. The halls are wide and long, after a by-gone fashion, with 
handsome staircases set at an easy angle to climb. The principal 
rooms are paneled to the ceiling, and have large open chimney places 
adorned with the quaintest of Dutch tiles. The choice store of china, 
silver plate, costumes, old clocks, portraits by Copley, filled the 
visitors with delight as they gazed on them ; the gentlemen were per- 
mitted to "try on" some of the costumes, and they presented an 
appearance which gave the spectators an idea of how grand the gov- 
ernor's council looked in the colonial days when Gov. John Wentworth 
was at the height of his regal power. The costumes are wonderfully well 
preserved, and look as though they were but a decade old instead of 
more than twelve decades since they were worn in colonial service. 
The whole house is rich in bric-a-brac. On the west end of the 
house is the first lightning rod that was erected in New Hampshire. 
It was put there by Benjamin Franklin who was present and superin- 
tended the work. That was in 1756, and the job was done so 
thoroughly that the rod still remains perfect to do its work of silently 
conducting the electric fluid from the air above to the earth below. 

The next move was a drive in barges to the Wentworth, Newcastle, 
where the party dined and rested till 3.30 o'clock, when they again 
entered the barges and were taken to the Gov. Benning Wentworth 
house, which is just across Little Harbor from Hotel Wentworth, by a 
roundabout way of two or three miles. This house is now owned by 



212 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

Thomas Jefferson Coolidge of Boston and is used as his summer resi- 
dence. Representatives of his family were there to receive the party 
and give them whatever information they might desire. This house 
was built by the governor in 1750 and occupied by him till his death 
in 1770, and his widow, the famous and beautiful Lady Wentworth, 
who was Martha Hilton, a great-granddaughter of the first settler in 
Dover, resided there much of the time till her death early in the 
present century, when it pnssed to the possession of her father's 
family as she left no children. 

Time has laid its hands very lightly on this rambling old pile. When 
you cross the threshold everything becomes colonial. It remains 
nearly as the old governor left it except that seven of the original 
fifty-two rooms have been cut off, leaving forty-five now. It is an 
architectural freak; nothing like it has ever been discovered in this or 
any other country. The main building is generally two stories high, 
with irregular wings forming three sides of a square which opens on 
the water. The chambers are connected in the oddest manner. 
There are unexpected steps leading up here, and down there, and 
capricious little passages that seem to have been the unhappy after- 
thoughts of the architect. It is a mansion on a grand scale and with 
a grand air. 

On the floor of the main parlor is a heavy Turkish carpet which has 
been there for more than a century and seems durable enough to last 
another century. Passing down a few steps from this, towards the 
north, we come to the council chamber, where the governor and council 
for many years transacted all the weighty affairs of state, and granted 
many charters for towns in New Hampshire and along the Connecti- 
cut River in Vermont, for which he is said to have always exacted a big 
fee for his signature. The room is spacious, high studded, and finished 
in the richest style of carving in the last century. It is said that the 
ornamentation of a huge mantel, carved with knife and chisel, cost the 
workman a year's constant labor. 

The room contains an old spinet which belonged to the Wentworth 
family, and there are other curious relics. The room adjoining on 
the north was the billiard hall, and in a corner stands a buffet from 
which the colonial punch and other things that cheered were taken 
as occasion demanded. None of our party were quite sharp scented 
enough to detect any of the ancient odors. 

At the entrance to the council chamber are still to be seen the racks 
for the twelve muskets of the governor's guard ; a few of the old 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 213 

Queen's arms are there now. Just outside the door from it is the 
entrance to the cellar where formerly stabling was arranged for a troop 
of thirty horse in times of danger. 

We next visited the Governor Langdon house on Pleasant street 
which was buiit in 1782 and in which the governor resided till he died 
in 18 19. It is still owned by his descendants. It is solid, dignified, 
and beautiful. It stands back a short distance from the street under 
the shadow of gigantic trees. On either side of the gate is a small, 
square, brick building, one-story high, probably the porter's lodge. 
The room in the house which attracted most attention was that in 
which Washington slept when he visited Portsmouth. Governor 
Langdon entertained many distinguished guests in his day, among the 
number being Louis Philippe, afterwards king of France. 

We also visited the chapel of St. John's church, and saw the organ 
which is claimed to be the oldest, in the United States. Mr. 
Hovey showed us the register in which has been kept all the marriages 
in the church since 1738. The worthy rector keeps the record just 
the same as did his predecessors. 

The last and in some respects the most interesting house that we 
visited was the residence of the venerable Alexander Hamilton Ladd, 
who received the party with great cordiality, and gave them permis- 
sion to go where they pleased. It is situated on Market street not 
far from the entrance to the Appledore wharf, and has a large garden 
in the rear, which Mr. Ladd takes great pride in showing to visitors. 
The house was built by John Moffatt, a wealthy merchant, about 1760, 
and was the first three-story dwelling built in New Hampshire. Gen. 
William Whipple, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, married Mr. Moffatt's daughter Catherine and resided there till 
his death, December 28, 1785, after which it passed into the posses- 
sion of Alexander Ladd, father of the present owner, who is a 
descendant of the gentleman who built the house. General Whipple's 
portrait and that of his wife and his father-in-law and other members 
of the family are hung on the walls of the spacious stairway, and about 
the house are many relics and special pieces of work that he had done. 
Some of the mantle carving is exquisite, and nothing in Portsmouth 
can be found equal to it. 

General Whipple, when a young man, was a sea captain, and in his 
voyages sometimes brought negro slaves from Africa ; among the lot 
was a large, well-proportioned, fine looking son of an African king, 
as is said, who afterward distinguished himself as the attendant and 



214 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



efficient aid of General Whipple in the Revolutionary war. He bore 
the name of Prince Whipple, and had his house on High street at the 
foot of the garden which Mr. Ladd now prizes so highly. 

A large, magnificent tree is standing in the garden at the east end 
of the house, which was planted by Josiah Bartlett, who was in the 
Continental Congress with General Whipple, and signed the Declara- 
tion of Independence with him. Just when the tree was set out 
Mr. Hovey did not know, but it must have been considerably more 
than a century ago. But for the fact that the visitors were obliged to 
leave to catch their trains for home, they would gladly have spent an 
hour or more in that grand old house and on its spacious grounds. 

The party at dinner, consisted of the following : 

Concord. 



Howard L. Porter, 

Mrs. Howard L. Porter, 

Rev. Henry E. Hovey, 

Mrs. Henry E. Hovey, 

Mrs. Hovey, 

Mrs. W. J. Black, 

David Hewes, 

Mrs. Courtney Pictt, 

Mrs. Henry B. Robeson, 

Henry B. Quinby, 

Mrs. Henry B. Quinby, 

Joseph B. Walker, 

Mrs. Charles M. Gilbert, 

Eugene M. Bowman, 

William W. Bailey, 

Col. Jas. Forney, U. S. M. C 

Mrs. James Forney, 

John Scales, 

John Kimball, 

Mrs. John Kimball, 

Josiah Carpenter, 

William S. Balcom, 

Bessie R. Balcom, 



Portsmouth. 
<« 

Lowell, Mass. 
Springfield, 111. 
San Francisco, Cal. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Portsmouth. 
Lakeport. 

Concord. 

Savannah, Ga. 

Nashua. 
(< 

Portsmouth 

Dover. 
Concord. 

Manchester. 
Claremont. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



215 



Albert B. Woodworth, 


Concord 


Mrs. Albert B. Woodworth, 


i t 


Miss Sarah F. Woodworth, 


i i 


Lt. J. B. Murdock, U. S. N., 


Hill. 


Lewis Downing, Jr., 


Concord. 


Charles E. Joslin, 


Keene. 


Mrs. Charles E. Joslin, 


i i 


Fred G. Hartshorn, 


Manchester. 


Mrs. Fred G. Hartshorn, 


i i 


Elisha R. Brown, 


Dover. 


Mrs. Elisha R. Brown, 


i i 


Charles H. Stewart, 


Concord. 


Susan T. Stewart, 


( t 


Charles S. Parker, 


t < 


Mrs. Charles S. Parker, 


i t 


Leonard F. Burbank, 


Nashua. 


OtisG. Hammond, 


Concord. 


Enoch Gerrish, 


c t 


H. E. Haley, 


Newmarket 


Charles R. Walker, 


Concord. 


W. B. Josephs, 


Newmarket 


Mrs. W. B. Josephs, 


t i 


Edward B. Griffiths, 


a 


Mrs. Edward B. Griffiths, 


(« 


Arioch W. Griffiths, 


(< 


Mrs. Arioch W. Griffiths, 


i i 


Henry H. Buzzell, 


Lakeport. 


Clara M. Buzzell, 


i i 


Mattie R. Buzzell, 


i i 


H. A. Yeaton, 


Portsmouth. 


Mrs. H. A. Yeaton, 


i i 


J. Haven Hill, 


Concord. 


Miss Emma S. Hill, 


(< 


John Dowst, 


Manchester 


Miss Ella M. Dowst, 


<( 



216 



PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 



Miss Frances M. Abbott, 
J. Lane Fitts, 
Mrs. Albert E. Rand, 
Mrs. Charles S. Sisson, 
Mrs. George E. Hall, 
Miss Laura E. Parker, 



Concord. 

Candia. 

Portsmouth. 

Providence, R. I. 

Dover. 

Nashua. 



Concord, N. H., October 14, 1897. 

The regular quarterly meeting of the Board of Man- 
agers of the New Hampshire Society of Sons of the 
American Revolution was held at the office of the Sec- 
retary in Concord, N. H., on Wednesday, October 13, 
1897, at 2 o'clock p. m. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. 

Voted to omit the reading of the records of the last 
meeting. 

Proceeded to the consideration of applications for 
membership, and the following were admitted to mem- 
bership : 



Elisha Marston, 
Enoch Q^ Marston, 
Charles F. Sawyer, 
William Crane, 
William F. Richards, 
Edgar M. Bowker, 

The meeting then adjourned. 
A true record, attest. 



Center Sandwich. 

Dover. 

Medfield, Mass. 
Newport. 
Whitefield. 



Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 217 

Concord, N. H., November 29, 1897. 

A special meeting of the Board of Managers of the 
New Hampshire Society of Sons of the American 
Revolution was held at the office of the Secretary in 
Concord, N. H., on Monday, November 29, 1897, at 
11 o'clock A. M. 

The meeting was called to order by the President, 
and the records of the last meeting were read and 
approved. 

The applications of 

Fred Leighton Green, Concord, 

Charles Alfred Hill, Northwood Ridge, 

were read and approved. 

The report of Howard S. Robbins, delegate* to the 
Cincinnati convention, October 12, 1897, was read, 
accepted, and placed on file. 

REPORT OF DELEGATE ROBBINS. 

To the Honorable President and Board of Managers of the New 
Hampshire Society of Sons of the American Revolution, Concord, 
New Hampshire. 

Gentleme7i : 

Pursuant to the instructions received from your Secretary, Mr. 
Otis G. Hammond, and the appointment as a delegate to the joint 
convention of the societies of Sons of the American Revolution and 
Sons of the Revolution to be held in Cincinnati, October 12, 1897, 
I beg to report that the convention of each society was called at the 
Grand Hotel, and, after several adjournments in joint conference, it 
was decided that the convention should recommend to each state 
society that the new constitution as prepared by the joint committees 
should be accepted, but that each state society should ratify the 
action of the joint convention, and accept the constitution. 

The Sons of the American Revolution voted unanimously to 
ac ept the constitution as originally prepared by the committee, but 
the Sons of the Revolution desired several amendments, which were 

*Mr. Robbins attended as alternate for Charles H. Greenleaf. 



218 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

offered as amendments and agreed to by the convention of the bons 
of the American Revolution. These two amendments were but 
slight changes, one in relation to the membership of each state 
society as it now exists, while the other was the referring to each 
state society of the new constitution as approved by the joint con- 
vention, which should be adopted by each state society as a body 
and not by its officers, and that a majority of the state societies 
accepting and adopting the new constitution would create a new 
society which would be called the Society of the American Revolu- 
tion. 

A committee was appointed to prepare plans for the organization of 
this new society under the constitution, and upon the ratification of 
the constitution a new convention will be called for the election 
of officers and other minor details connected with the new organiza- 
tion. 

The convention adjourned. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

I am your obedient servant. 

Howard Sumner Robe-ins. 

On motion of Arthur H. Chase it was voted that the 
Secretary invite the New Hampshire Society of Sons 
of the Revolution to a joint meeting of Boards of 
Managers, to be held in Concord, N. H., on any date 
in December to be named by the Sons of the Revolu- 
tion, to consider the union of the two societies, the 
ratification of the proposed national constitution of the 
Society of the American Revolution, and to formulate a 
constitution and make all necessary arrangements for 
the organization of a New Hampshire Society of the 
American Revolution. 

On motion of Arthur H. Chase it was voted that the 
committee on publication be instructed to include in the 
forthcoming volume of proceedings a portrait of the 
Secretary. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 219 

On motion of Fred Leighton it was voted that the 
binding and distribution of the new volume be left to 
the publication committee, with full power to act at their 
discretion. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

A true record, attest, 

Otis G. Hammond, Secretary. 



THE 



rn 



Fourteen Survivors 



REVOLUTIONARY ARMY, 



GEORGE C. GILMORE. 



CONCORD : 
Ira C. Evans, Printer, 12 School Street. 

1898. 






W.^w, 



THE 

LAST FOURTEEN SURVIVORS 

OF THE 

Revolutionary Army. 



JAMES BARHAM. 

Born in Southampton county, Virginia, May 18, 1764 ; 
died in Green county, Missouri, July 18 (?) 1865, aged 
101 years, 2 months, 1 day. 

DANIEL FREDERICK BOCHMAN. 

[Bakeman on muster rolls and pay rolls.] 
Born in Schoharie county, New York, September 28, 
1759; died in Freedom, Cattaraugus county, New 
York, April 5, 1869, aged 109 years, 6 months, 8 days ; 
pensioned by special act of Congress. 

LEMUEL COOK. 

Born in Northbury, Litchfield county, Connecticut, 
September 10, 1759; resided in Clarendon, New York ; 
died May 20, 1866, aged 106 years, 8 months, 11 days. 

SAMUEL DOWNING. 

Born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, November 30, 
1761 ; resided in Deering, New Hampshire; died in 
Edinburg, New York, February 19, 1867, aged 105 
years, 2 months, 20 days. 

JONAS GATES. 

Born July 7, 1764; died in Chelsea, Ver- 
mont, January 14, 1864, aged 99 years, 6 months, 8 
days. 



224 RPOCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

JOHN GOODNOW. 

Born in Sudbury, Massachusetts, January 30, 1762; 

died October 22, 1863, aged 101 years, 8 months, 

23 days. 

AMAZIAH GOODWIN. 

Born in Somersworth, New Hampshire, February 16, 
1759; resided in Alfred, Maine; died in Dover, New 
Hampshire, June 22, 1863, aged 104 years, 4 months, 
7 days. 

JOHN GRAY. 

Born near Mount Vernon, Virginia, January 6, 1764 ; 
died near Hiramsburg, Ohio, March 29, 1868, aged 
104 years, 2 months, 24 days ; pensioned by special act 
of congress. 

WILLIAM HUTCHINGS. 

Born in York, York county, Maine, October 6, 176.) ; 
resided in Penobscot, Hancock county, Maine; died 
May 2, 1866, aged 101 years, 6 months, 27 days. 

ADAM LINK. 

Born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, near 
Hagerstown, Maryland, November 14, 1761 : died at 
Sulphur Springs, Crawford county, Ohio, August 15, 
1864, aged 102 years, 9 months, 2 days. 

ALEXANDER MILLENER. 

Born in Quebec, Canada, March 14, 1760; died at 
Adams Basin, New York, March 13, 1865, aged 105 
years. He enlisted under the name of Alexander 
Maroney, his widowed mother having married a man of 
that name. Buried in Mount Hope cemetery, Roches- 
ter, New York. 



SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 225 

BENJAMIN MILLER. 

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, April 4, 1764; 

died September 24, 1863, aged 99 years, 5 

months, 21 days. 

JOHN PETTINGILL. 

Born in Windham, Connecticut, November 30, 1764; 
died in Henderson, New York, April 23, 1864, aged 
99 years, 4 months, 24 days. 

REV. DANIEL WALDO. 

Born in Windham, Scotland Parish, Connecticut, 
September 10, 1762; resided at Syracuse, New York; 
graduated at Yale College in 1778; elected chaplain of 
the House of Representatives of the United States 
December 22, 1856, and reelected for a second term; 

died July 30, 1864, aged 101 years, 10 months, 

21 days. 



REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

According to Haydn's Dictionary of Dates the 
Revolutionary war commenced July 14, 1774, and the 
treaty of peace was signed September 3, 1783. The 
Continental army was disbanded at Newburg, New 
York, November 3, 1783, and the treaty of peace was 
ratified by Congress January 4, 1784. 

WAR OF 1812. 

War with Great Britain was declared by the United 
States June 18, 1812 ; the treaty of peace was signed 
December 24, 1814, and ratified February 17, 1815. 

WAR WITH MEXICO. 

Mexico declared war against the United States June 
4, 1845 ; the treaty of peace was ratified May 19, 1848. 



226 PROCEEDINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY 

WAR OF THE REBELLION. 

Commenced April 13, 1861. The president pro- 
claimed the insurrection at an end April 3, 1866, except 
in Texas, and there August 20, 1866. 



Daniel Frederick Bochman lived 85 years, 3 months, 
and 1 day after the close of the Revolutionary war. 

A soldier of the war of 181 2 living the same length 
of time after the close of the war would live until May 
18, 1900 ; a Mexican war soldier, until August 20, 
1933 ; a soldier of the Rebellion, until August 3, 1951. 



REVOLUTIONARY WAR RECORDS. 

" Have always understood that my ancestors were 
"soldiers in the Revolutionary war, but have been 
"unable to find any trace of them, as I do not know 
" where to look for the records." 

The above statement is made to the writer nearly 
every day. The New Hampshire State Library con- 
tains all the printed records. They are to be found in 
vols. 14, 15, 16, and 17 of the series of State Papers of 
New Hampshire. 

PENSION ROLLS. 

In 1820 the United States government printed one 
volume, and, in 1835-6, three more, said to contain the 
names of 120,000 pensioners who were soldiers in the 
Revolution. The names are grouped by counties in 
the respective states, and the tables show dates of pen- 
sions, branch of service, age, amount of money paid to 
each up to March 4, 1834, an( ^ dates of death of per- 



SONS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 227 

haps one fourth of those who had died. The number 
of New Hampshire pensioners named in the four 
volumes is 2,906. 

In June, 1840, a census of pensioners was taken 
throughout the country, and the names, ages, and places 
of residence of over 21,000 pensioners were obtained, 
of which number 1,412 were New Hampshire soldiers. 
This roll was published in a separate volume by the 
government. 

The applications of New Hampshire soldiers for pen- 
sions state places of residence as follows : in New 
Hampshire, 1,558; Maine, 333; Massachusetts, 95; 
Vermont, 448; Canada, 30; Connecticut, 17; New 
York, 289 ; Ohio, 73 ; Pennsylvania, 28; Kentucky, 
7 ; New Jersey, 3 ; Michigan, 10 ; Indiana, 7 ; Illinois, 
3 ; Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, and the District ot 
Columbia, 1 each. 

George C. Gilmore. 
Manchester, N. H., September 25, 1897. 



INDEX. 



Abbott, Abiel C 190 

Amos S 190 

Andrew J 190 

Frances M 216 

George W 102 

Adams, 26, 27, 85, 159 

Captain 86 

Chancey 186 

John 114, 206 

Lieut.-Col 203 

Mary F 34 

Samuel 83,206 

Adams Basin, N. Y 224 

Addresses: — 

Bartlett, Charles H 120 

Samuel C 195 

Cogswell, Parsons B 95 

Crawford, John G 78 

Hadley, Amos 98 

Kent, Henry 153 

Oberly, John H 137 

Patterson, James W 14 

Robinson, Henry 132 

Smith, Samuel F 118, 134 

Staniels, Charles E 60, 94, 114 

Stearns, Ezra S 62 

Walker, Joseph B 96, 171 

Agiochook Mountain 168 

Aiken, Edward 7, 10, 11, 14-16, 22, 50 

Edward C 7 

Albany, N. Y 68, 202 

Alexander, Grace J 75 

Jabez 41, 43, 48, 144 

Alexandria 1C6 

Alfred, Me 224 

Allen, Samuel 64 

Alton 7, 13, 30 

Amherst 7, 8, 209 

Amherst, Mass 55, 76 

Amory, Thomas C 80, 83 

Amoskeag 166 

Andover, Mass 119, 174 

Andre, Major 166 

Androscoggin River 168 

Appleton, John 172 

Nathan 115 



15 



Arnold, Benedict. . . 150, 165, 199, 201, 202 

Articles of Association 5 

Ashland 76, 152, 194 

Ashley, Samuel 71 

Athens, Ga 8, 144 

Atkinson 187 

Atkinson, Theodore 68 

Bache, Sarah 99 

Badger, Benjamin E 41, 56, 101 

William 144 

Bailey, William T 50 

William W. .7, 14-16, 19, 30, 31, 35, 38, 
39, 43-15, 48, 49, 51-56, 77, 92, 103, 
105, 109, 131, 142, 145, 151, 184, 214. 

Baker, Henry M 90 

Walter S 91 

Balcolm, Bessie R 214 

William S 76, 193, 214 

Baldwin, Loamnii 172, 173 

Ball, George 190 

Ballard, John 8, 17, 45 

Baltimore, Md 166 

Bancroft, 201, 202, 204 

Charles P 103 

Barham, James 223 

Barnard, Joseph 38 

Barras, Count de 155 

Bartlett 9, 33, 144, 191 

Bartlett, Charles H 113, 120, 130, 131 

Colonel 150 

Joseph 80 

Josiah 69, 71, 72, 86, 198, 214 

Lieutenant 87 

Samuel C 1S8, 195, 207, 208 

Batchellor, Albert S 8, 16, 189 

Baum, Colonel 166 

Bedell, Timothy 203 

Bedford 151 

Belknap, Jeremy.... 67, 73, 123, 129, 161, 
203, 206. 

Bell, Charles H 63, 83 

Bellomont, Earl of 64 

Bemis Heights, N. Y 165, 201 

Bennett, 83, 84 

Lydia M 7, 13, 30 



230 



INDEX. 



Bennington, Vt.... 40, 45, 61,88, 1G3, 166- 
168, 197, 199. 

Berlin 104, 191 

Bernard, Francis 176 

Bixby, Augustus H 50 

Joseph S 91 

Black, Mrs. W. J 214 

Blair, Henry W 76, 90 

Blake, Amos J 143 

Bochman, Daniel F 223 

Bohonon, Stephen 202 

Boone, Iowa 186 

Boscawen 107, 196, 198 

Boston, Mass 12, 23, 28, 44, 50, 61, 62, 

76, 78, 81-83, 96, 101, 104, 105, 117, 
119, 122, 123, 144, 153, 162, 171-173, 
177, 180, 181, 183, 189, 194-199, 211, 
212. 

Bow 97, 174-176 

Bowker, Edgar M 216 

Bowman, Eugene M 142, 214 

Orlando 45 

Bradford, Mass 174 

Bradley, Arthur C 146 

Philbrick 94 

Timothy 94, 97 

Branch, Oliver E 8, 16 

Brandy wine 164, 201 

Breed's Hill 26 

Brentwood 86 

Brewer, Colonel 23 

Brickett, Lieutenant 26 

Bridge, Colonel 23, 26 

Briggs, William S 8, 16 

Brookline, Mass 93-95, 101 

Brooklyn, N. Y 35, 141 

Bunker Hill. . . 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22-24, 
26-28, 58, 60, 61, 81, 86, 95, 96, 121, 
159, 162, 164, 165, 168, 196, 197, 199, 
203, 205. 

Butt's Hill 202 

Brown, Elisha R 91, 215 

Mrs. Elisha R 215 

George H 189 

Peter 26 

Burhank, Leonard F 113, 215 

Burgoyne, General.. .61, 99,163, 165-167, 
199, 201, 202, 205. 

Burleigh, Alvin B 46 

D. Paul 46 

Burns, Edward S 189 

Butler, Henry 150 

Butterfield, Major 203 

Buzzell, Clara M 215 

Henry H 7, 13, 30, 215 

Mattie R 215 



By-Laws 6, 110 

amended 48, 109 

Cairo, Hi 138 

Callender, Captain 27 

Cambridge, Mass. . .26, 27, 52, 76, 86, 173, 
174, 181, 196-198, 202. 

Camhridgeport, Mass 45, 59 

Canaan 44 

Candia 8, 208, 216 

Canohie Lake 8 

Cape Breton, N. S 161, 162 

Capen, Hopestill 172 

Carpenter, Charles H 104, 151 

Eugene F 145 

Josiah 76, 151, 152, 193, 194, 214 

Mrs. Josiah 77, 185 

Carrigain, Philip 177 

Carter, Nathan F 35 

Cedars, Can 203 

Center Sandwich 216 

Certificates of membership. . . 16, 30, 32, 
33, 38-40. 

Chandler, Captain 196 

George B 8, 16, 44, 49, 53, 56, 77, 

90, 132, 152, 194. 

William E 90, 93 

Charlestown 161 

(No. 4) 161 

Charlestown, Mass 24-26 

Charlestown Neck 197 

Chase, Arthur H 103, 152, 190, 194, 

195, 218. 

Arthur W 187 

Dudley T 144 

Enoch 197 

William M 103 

Chelsea, Vt 223 

Chemung, N. Y 203 

Cheney, Fred W 186 

Harry M 101 

Person C 76 

Thomas P 76, 152, 194 

Cherbourg 167 

Chester 66 

Chichester 104, 151 

Chickahominy River 1G7 

Childs, Sarah M 44 

Church Hill 210 

Churchill, Frank C 103 

Cilley, Bradbury 55, 76 

Bradbury L 8, 19, 54, 152. 185 

Clinton A 36, 144 

Frank M 143, 147 

Jose ph.... 86, 87, 89, 155, 165, 196, 201, 
203. 



INDEX. 



231 



Cincinnati, O 214, 217 

Claremont....49, 50, 53, 76, 77,91,106, 131, 
144, 152, 1S6, 189, 190, 193, 194, 209, 
214. 

Clarendon, N. Y 223 

Clark, Byron G 106, 209 

Daniel 9,30,50 

Clarke, Mrs. Arthur E 185 

John B 47 

Martha C. B 75 

Clarkson, Andrew C7 

Cleveland, O 193 

Clinton, General 199, 201, 202 

Clough, Captain 86 

Cocheco (Dover) 161 

Cochran, Edna A 40 

John 80j 82 

Cogswell, John R 104 

Parsons B 95, 101 

Thomas. . . .8, 15, 16, 44, 49, 77. 92, 93, 
100, 101, 105, 113, 131, 142, 143, 145, 
152, 188-190, 193, 194, 207, 208. 

Colhurn, Lieut. -Col 203 

Colby, Frank A 104, 191 

Comins, Edward P 142 

Concord 7-10, 13, 15, 16, 30-38, 41, 43- 

46, 48-55, 76, 77, 91-93, 95-98, 101- 
107. Ill, 113, 131-134, 141-146, 151, 
152, 162, 174, 175, 177-191, 193, 194, 
196, 198, 208, 209, 214-218. 

(Penacook) 161 

Concord, Mass 58, 121, 196 

Cong-aree River 99 

Committees: — 

arrangements 103, 145, 190 

Bennington 40, 43 

celebration 51, 53 

certificates 16, 40 

Langdon statue 189 

N. H. at Bunker Hill. . . 13, 15, 17, 19, 
22 23. 

publication 195, 209, 218. 219 

reception 103 

Stark statue 13, 15 

union with National society 40 

Connecticut River 212 

Conner, Lieutenant 203 

Conway, 205 

Constitution 5, 109 

amendment of 13, 29, 30, 42, 48, 

77, 109. 

revision of 92,103, 109 

Cook, Howard M 49 

Lemuel 223 

Coolidge, Thomas J 212 

Corning, Charles R 38, 185 



Cornish ig 9 

Cornish Flat 2O8 

Cornwallis, Lord.... 61, 164, 165, 202, 205 

Crane, William 216 

Crawford, John G 78 

Cressy, Harry R 102 

Crosby, Ada E 7 

Dixi 9. 20, 144 

ElmiraJ 4^ 41 

John W 7 52 

Cross, Allen E 34' 57 

Da vid 34, 107 

Edward E i 6 7 

Curtis, F. P . . " ' 101 

Cutter, Henry A 45, 107 

Cutts, Samuel 80, 82 

Dana, Sylvester 7, 10, 13, 30, 43, 48, 

105. 

Danforth, George F 9, 31 

Henry P 49 

Reuben C 8, 45 

Daniell, Frank II 101 

Dartmouth College.... 102, 162, 186, 188, 
195, 197, 204. 

David's Island, N. Y 41 

Davis, Dora D 41 

George H 8 

Dearborn, Clarkson 41, 46 

George G 208 

Henry.. .27, 150, 155, 165, 197, 199, 201, 
204. 
Dedication East Concord memorial 

stone 92,93 

Deering 2 23 

Delegates 11, 12, 45, 52, 54, 56, 91, 105, 

142, 184, 193, 207, 217. 

Demerit, Deacon 27 

Deming, Lucius P ig 

Derby, 2 8 

Derryfield (Manchester) 166 

Des Moines, la 49,186, 191 

Detroit, Mich 137, 194 

Dodge, Arthur M '144 

Isaac B 7 

Doolittle, Colonel 24 

Dover 7, 15, 31, 35, 41, 43, 44, 48, 49, 

52, 66, 76, 91, 102, 131, 144, 151, 189^ 
193, 208, 209, 212, 214-216, 224. 

(Cocheco) i6i 

Dow, Robert M 36, 50 

Sumner A 34, 45 

Downing-, Lewis, Jr 7, n, 215 



Miss. 



Samuel 223 

Dowst, Ella M 2 15 



232 



INDEX. 



Dowst, John 188, 215 

Drisco, R. O 46 

Dunstable 66, 160 

Durham. . . .66, 81, 83-86, 161, 162, 164, 186, 
190. 

East Alstead 144 

East Concord ... .31, 43, 51, 52, 75, 76, 92- 
94, 96, 101, 108. 

East Derry 46 

East Jaff rey 144 

East Kingston 197 

Eastman, Amos 97 

Chandler 101 

David 94 

Edson C 34, 42, 101 

George N 9, 20, 54 

Jonathan 94, 97 

Joseph 94, 97 

JosiahC 9, 20, 46 

Moses 94, 97 

Nathaniel 94 

Samuel C 34 

Wilbur F 113 

Echo Lake 33 

Edgerly , James A 8, 15, 189 

James B 38 

Winfield S 190, 194 

Edinburg, N. Y 223 

Elkins, Captain 86 

Ellery, William 205 

Ellis, William B 209 

Emerson, Abraham 8, 17, 50 

George 7 

Emery, Alfred E 101 

Entield 8, 106 

English, Ned G 91 

Epping 86 

Epsom 37, 107, 197 

Estaing, Count de 155 

Evans, Ira C 22, 41, 42 

Exeter. ... 8, 24, 54, 66, 67, 69-71, 83-89, 124, 
143, 144, 147, 152, 155, 157, 161, 162, 
165, 197, 204, 208. 

Farmington 7-9, 13, 30, 34, 38, 54, 75, 

135. 

Farwell, Jesse H 187, 194 

Faulkner, Francis C 8, 16 

Fay, Harry C 76 

Nathan W 76 

Fellows, William B 45 

Fernald, John 161 

Ferren, Ebenezer 41, 52, 54, 76, 131 

Field day 20, 91, 207, 209 

Fitch, Austin T 35 



Fitts, John L 208, 216 

Fitzwilliam 143 

Flags, foreign 102 

Flamborough Head 167 

Flint, William W 104 

Folsom, Nathaniel 24, 66, 69, 71, 79, 

85, 86, 89. 

Forbush, H. W 46 

Forney, James 214 

Mrs. James 214 

Forrest, William 150 

Forsaith, Hiram 190 

Fort George, Can 165 

Fort Sumter, S. C 137, 196 

Fort William and Mary . . . .27, 78, 79, 81, 
84, 86, 87, 161-165, 196. 

Foster, Edward E 186 

Oliver H 186 

Roger E 50 

William H 50 

William L 52, 53, 76 

Francestown 50 

Franklin 8, i6, 101, 189 

Franklin, Benjamin 172,211 

Fraser, 203 

Freedom, N. Y 223 

Freeman's Farm, N. Y 201 

Fremont (Poplin) 86 

French, Moses 7, 10, 13, 30 

William F 143 

Frisbie, F. Senter 76 

Frothingham, 28 

Frye, Colonel 23 

JohnE 101 

Fryeburg, Me 160 

Fuller, Henry M 7, 50 

Gage, Charles P 170 

General. . . 82, 83, 87, 173, 180, 182, 196 

Isaac K 70, 107 

Gale, Arthur W 190 

Stephen H 208 

Gxllinger, Jacob H 90, 93 

Gamble, Eleanor 44, 46 

Garland, Eben 33, 144 

EdwinF 104 

Freeman A 8 

Gates, General 204, 205 

Jonas 223 

Gedding, John 80 

Genesse River 203 

George, Frank H 7 

Germantown, Pa 164, 201 

Gerould, Sanrael L 7, 16, 17 

Gerrish, Captain 196 

Enoch 45, 215 



INDEX. 



233 



Gerrish, Hiram F 76 

Gerry, 205 

Gettysburg, Pa 163 

Gilbert, Mrs. Cliarles M 214 

Gilcbrist, Harry W 189 

Gilford 30, 150 

Gilman, Captain 86 

Daniel 150 

JohnT 196 

Nicliolas 86, 87 

Gilmanton 8, 15, 44, 49, 77, 106, 131, 

152, 194. 
Gilmore, George C....7, 10, 13, 15, 17-20, 
22, 25, 29, 30, 32, 39-41, 43-45, 48, 50, 
53,54,01,77, 92, 101, 102, 113, 131, 
132, 151-153, 188-190, 193, 194, 221, 
227. 

Gilsum 198 

Glidden, diaries H 50 

Goffstown 52, 144 

Goodnow, John 224 

Goodwin, Amaziah 224 

Icbabod 168 

Gordon, Doctor 28 

Nathaniel 87 

Goss, Ebenezer H 177 

Gould, Phiueas R 146 

Gove, Maria L 45 

Granger, Adelaide C. H 33 

Grasse, Count de 155 

Gray. John 224 

Great Falls 8 

Great Falls, Mon 76, 107 

Green, Catharine 99 

Fred L 217 

General 199, 204 

Jonathan 65 

Peter 177 

William C 113 

Greenfield 190 

Greenland 66, 84 

Greenleaf , Charles H 101, 194, 217 

Richard O 186 

William H 104, 151 

Gridley, Colonel 24, 26 

Griffin, Charles P 55, 76 

Griffiths, Arioch W 190, 215 

Mrs. Arioch W 215 

Edward B 190, 215 

Mrs. Edward B 215 

Griswold, Charles B 45 

Had ley, Amos 9, 30, 32-34, 98 

Hagerstown, Md 224 

Hale, 203 

Haley, Herbert E 146, 215 



Halifax, N. S 197 

Hall, Angeline F 34 

Daniel 102 

Mrs. George E 216 

Joseph 150 

Joshua G. . . 7, 14, 15, 31, 44, 49, 52, 76, 
131, 151, 193. 

Marshall P 38, 147, 149, 150 

Hammond, Harry P 8, 18-22, 184 

Isaac W . . 7, 11, 14-18, 21, 31, 41, 42, 50 

OtisG 76, 77,91, 93, 102-10S, 113, 

131, 141-143, 145, 146, 148, 149, 151, 
152, 171, 185-190, 192, 193, 208, 209, 
215-217, 219. 

Sara J 37 

Hampstead 9, 46 

Hampton 63,64, 66, 161, 197 

Hampton Falls 62, 65-67, 70, 74, 163 

Handy, William B 104 

Hanover. . . .7, 9, 16, 31, 43, 47, 53, 54, 103, 
144. 

Hardy, Anthony C 144 

Hartford, Conn 83, 145 

Hartshorn, Fred G 103, 113, 215 

Mrs. Fred G 215 

Harvard College 161, 164, 177, 184 

Hatch, Ernest G 144 

Haverhill 113, 146 

Haverhill, Mass 174 

Hay, John 173 

Hazel Run, Minn 102 

Head, Eugene S 104 

John A 186 

William F 76 

Headley, 80 

Heald, Charles B 187 

Heath, Elbridge P 38 

General 202, 204, 205 

Will C 113 

Henderson, N. Y 225 

Herrick, Henry W 32, 33, 37, 42, 107 

Hewes, David 214 

Hickory, N. C 36, 144 

Hildreth, 201 

Hill 215 

Hill, Adelaide S 49 

Charles A 217 

Charles S 102 

Clara W 49 

Emma S 215 

George W 7 

Howard F 9, 21, 101, 191 

Isaac 104 

Isaac W 41 

John H 7, 215 



234 



INDEX. 



Hill, John M. .7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 19-22, 30-33, 
36-40, 42, 43, 45, 47, 48, 50-52, 56, 76, 
101, 103, 105, 130, 131, 151, 184, 189, 
207. 

William P 41, 144 

Hillanl, William A 142 

Hillsborough 104, 143 

Hilton, Martha 212 

Hinsdale 7 

Hiramsburg, O 224 

Hobart, Major 25 

Hoit, J. Frank 36 

Hollis 7, 16, 25,161, 197, 198 

Holmes, Oliver W 118, 134 

Hooksett 76, 104, 151 

Hopkinton 7, 13, 30, 38 

Horton, E. A 185 

William F 144 

Hosley, John 8, 19, 50 

Houston, 117 

Hovey, Henry E. . . .185, 207-210, 213, 214 

Mrs. Henry E 214 

Mrs 214 

Howe, General 197 

Will B 189 

Hoyt, Charles F 8 

Huhbardton, Vt 203 

Hudson River 201, 202 

Huntoon, Charles T 104 

Huse, Everett B 106 

Orrin D 8, 16 

Hussey, Huhlah 64 

Hutchings, William 224 

Hutchins, Edward R 49, 186, 191 

Gordon 150 

Hamilton 34 

Hutchinson, Thomas 176 

Isles of Shoals 123, 197 

Jackson, Charles A 189 

Jaff rey 144 

Jamestown, Va 157 

Jefferson, Thomas 204 

Jenks, Edward A 33, 40 

Jenness 79 

Jerry's Point 87 

Jewett, Stephen S 101, 194 

Jewett's Bridge 198 

Jones, John Paul 116, 167 

Jordan, Chester B 40, 41 

Josephs, W. B 215 

Mrs. W.B 215 

Joslin, Charles E v . . . . 187, 215 

Mrs. Charles E 215 

Judkins, George 50 



Judkins, Henry 76 

Levi A ... 50 

Mary E. A 50 

Kearsarge Mountain 167 

Keene 8, 41, 54, 144, 187, 204, 215 

Kellom, Edward • 143 

Kennebec River 165 

Kensington 65 

Kent, Henry O. . . .8, 15, 29, 31, 38, 39, 43, 
48, 53, 77, 92, 131, 143, 152, 153, 185, 
189. 

Key West, Fla 33 

Kidder, Fanny 34 

John S 7, 34 

Joseph 34 

Sarah E 34 

Kimball George R 146 

John ... .9, 32, 43, 45, 46, 48, 53, 54, 56, 
77, 101, 113, 131, 145, 152, 214. 

Mrs. John 214 

Mellen 94 

Reuben 94, 97 

Kingston. 66, 86, 87 

Knowlton, Arthur H 144 

Captain 26, 27 

Knox, Henry 155, 203 

Lucia 99 

Laconia 101, 150, 194 

Ladd, 01, 166 

Alexander 213 

Alexander H 213, 214 

Lafayette, General 94, 115, 164, 165 

Lake Champlain 199 

Lakeport 214, 215 

(Lake Village) 7, 13 

Lakin, Taylor D 190 

Lamson, Gideon 83 

J. W 8,16 

Lancaster. . .8, 15, 29, 31, 40, 41, 43, 48, 53, 
77, 131, 143. 

Landaff 189 

Langdon, John. . . .27, 75, 81, 153, 163, 164. 
166, 167, 188, 189, 196, 213. 

Woodbury 71, 73, 74 

Langdon statue 153, 189 

Langston, Dicey 100 

Lawrence, Mass 49 

Leavitt, George A 8, 16 

Lebanon 101, 103 

Lee, Charles 201, 205 

Leighton, Fred.... 7, 11, 44, 45, 48. 49, 53, 

77, 131, 151, 152, 193, 194, 209,219. 
Lexington, Mass.... 23. 27, 121,157, 162, 
176. 181, 196. 



INDEX. 



235 



Lincoln, Abraham 163, 172 

Linehan, John C 46 

Link, Adam 224 

Little, Colonel 23 

Cyrus H 106 

Little Harbor 211 

Littleton 8, 16, 36, 142, 144 

Lisbon 91 

Locke, Eugene 33 

Simeon 94 

Londonderry 66, 86, 105 

Long, Charles H 76 

Isaac H 76 

Long Island 199, 201 

Louisburg, Can 1 17, 159, 167, 168 

Lovell, 205 

Lovewell, John 160 

Zaccheus 161 

Lovewell's Pond 160 

Lowell, Mass 214 

Lund, Charles H 190 

Luzerne, Chevalier de la 155 

Lynn, Mass 91 

McClary, John 27, 28, 197, 203 

McClintock, John N 80 

Nathaniel 89 

McDowell, William 11 

Macpheadris, Archibald 211 

Mary 211 

Manchester. . . .7-9, 13, 15, 29-32, 34, 36-38, 
41, 43-46, 48, 49, 52-54, 61, 75-78, 
101, 103, 106, 107, 113, 131, 132, 142, 
145, 147, 149-152, 187-191, 193, 194, 
208, 214, 215. 

(Derryfield) 166 

March, Clement 80 

Maroney , Alexander 224 

Marston, Elisha 216 

EnochQ 216 

Martyn, Judge 63 

Mason, Harry 186 

JohnT 210 

Lowell 119 

Medfield, Mass 216 

Medford, Mass 24, 27, 87, 172 

Meetings : — 

annual 12, 21, 41, 46, 50, 55, 104- 

106, 146, 191. 
Board of Managers.... 11, 16-21, 31- 
39, 44, 91, 101-103, 141, 146, 1S5, 188, 
189, 208, 216, 217. 

organ ization 10 

preliminary 10 

special 37, 38 

Merrill, Sophia B 38 



Merrimack 66 

Merrimack River 88, 96, 175 

Merrow, Ly ford A 104 

Meserve, Arthur L 9, 21, 191 

Nathaniel 161, 167 

Metcalf, Harry B 113 

Henry H 34,52 

Mifflin, 205 

Milford 7, 8, 40, 41, 52, 91, 143, 186, 188 

Millener, Alexander 224 

Miller, Benjamin 225 

James 50, 101, 103, 105, 145, 166 

Minot, James 102 

Mississippi River 138 

Mitchell, James 9, 31, 45, 50 

Moff att, Catharine 213 

John 213 

Mohawk River 201 

Monmouth, N. J. . . . 164, 165, 168, 201, 204 

Monroe, James 204 

Montreal, Can 162, 176, 199 

Mooar, Jacob W 145 

Moody, Andrew J 209 

Moore, Samuel 161 

Moreton, 86 

Morgan, 201 

Morrison, Charles R 7, 10-12, 16-21, 

29-39, 54. 

JamesS 8,17, 144 

Leonard A 8, 10, 16 

Susan F 34 

Morey, Israel 71 

Morton, Levi P 185 

Motte, Rebecca 99 

Moulton, Josiah 71 

Mount Vernon, Va 224 

Murdock, J. B 215 

Murray, Sir William 175 

Mystic River 27, 165 

Nantucket, Mass 63 

Nashua 7, 8, 15, 31, 35, 38, 43, 45, 48, 

50-54, 77, 104, 107, 113, 131, 142, 151, 

186, 190, 208, 214-216. 

Nashua River 198 

Nason, Richard 67 

National society, union with — 11, 18, 

40, 42, £6, 77. 

Nay, Albert J 8, 16, 50 

Nesmith, George W 8, 16, 17, 19, 50 

Nevins, .197 

New York, N. Y 12, 14, 33, 45, 46, 48, 

50, 82, 83, 106, 119, 149, 150, 199, 209 

Newbury, Mass 63, 64 

Newburyport, Mass 223 

Newcastle 66, 78, 81, 211 



236 



INDEX. 



Newell, Hiram F 7, 22, 144 

Newich wannock River 168 

Newington 06 

Newmarket 38, 66, 84, 87, 146, 215 

Newport 146, 198, 208, 216 

Niagara, N. Y , 166 

Nichols, Moses 202 

Nicholas 87 

Nixon, Colonel 24 

Norris, Captain 86 

North, Lord 196 

North Conway 189, 193 

Northbury, Conn 223 

Northumberland 161 

North wood Ridge 217 

Nottingham 86, 165, 196 

Number 4 (Charlestown) 161 

Nutter, EliphaletS 36, 101 

Nutting, Charles B 46 

Oberly, John H. . .76, 91, 101, 131, 137, 185 

Odlin, Herbert W 143 

Officers, election of.... 10, 13,18,22,30, 
40, 43, 48, 52, 56, 76, 131, 151, 193. 

resignation of 39 

Ohio River 138 

Ordway, John C. . .36, 45, 52, 101, 103, 131, 
151, 152, 194. 

Sarah A 41 

Osborne, Jennie A 46 

Osgood, Joel F., Jr 8 

Ossipee 104 

Page, Caleb 161 

Francis E 101 

Parker, Anne M 8 

Charles S 8, 56, 132, 215 

Mrs. Charles S 215 

Laura E 216 

Maria B 150 

Patterson, James W 7, 14, 16-18, 20, 

31-37, 39, 43, 48, 52-54. 

Joab N 35, 185 

Samuel F 35 

Pelham 66 

Pelren, Oliver 105 

Penacook 46,76,101 

(Concord) 161 

Penobscot, Me 224 

Perhatn, George F 186 

Perkins, Abigail 65 

Petti ugill, Benjamin 196 

John 225 

Mehitable 196 

Phalen, Frank L 57, 185 

Phelps, Annie M 93-95,98,101 



Phelps, Matilda H 94 

Philadelphia, Pa . . .46, 51, 66, 81, 83, 129, 
156. 

Philbrick, Samuel 86 

Philbrook, Charles F. B 76 

Pickering, John 80 

Pictt, Mrs. Courtney 214 

Pierce, Franklin 130, 166 

Josiah, Jr 171, 174 

Pillsbury, Frank J 91 

Pinkham, Joseph 38 

Piscataqua River 162, 177 

Plaisto w 66 

Plover, Iowa 194 

Plymouth 46, 91, 186 

Poems 57, 75, 135 

Pomfret, Conn 7 

Poole, Arthur E 144 

Poor, 86 

Enoch 24, 86, 150, 164, 165, 199, 

201-203. 

Poplin (Fremont) 86 

Porter, Horace 185 

Howard L.. .7, 10, 12, 43, 45, 48, 53-55, 
77, 103, 105, 131, 142, 145, 146, 151, 
152, 186, 188, 190, 193, 194, 209, 214. 

Mrs. Howard L. (Rosalie H.)..9, 21, 
214. 

William H 209 

Portsmouth.. 66, 70, 71, 78, 79, 81-87, 116, 
161-163, 167, 168, 178, 179, 187, 191, 
195, 207, 209-211, 213-216. 
Potter, Anthony 94 

Chandler E 24 

Powers, Peter 161 

Prescott, Henry 80 

William 12, 23, 25-27, 197 

Princeton, N. J 164, 166, 199 

Profile Mountain 33 

Providence, R. 1 216 

Publications.... 31, 43, 49, 131, 145, 195, 

218, 219. 
Putnam, Israel 26-28, 204 

Quebec, Can 150, 161, 199, 224 

Quiberon Bay 116 

Quinby, HenryB 214 

Mrs. Henry B 214 

Quoddy Head, Me 167 

Ramsdell, George A 185, 207 

Rand, Mrs. Albert E 216 

William 45, 53, 77, 132, 191 

Randolph, Peyton 83 

Reed, 205 

Esther 99 



INDEX. 



237 



Reed, James 23-25, 27, 28, 60, 61, 164, 

165, 197, 199. 

Reports, delegate 217 

Historian 149 

Secretary 46, 106, 146, 191 

Treasurer. ... 14, 22, 41, 47, 51, 55, 108, 
148, 192. 

Resolutions 21, 29, 151, 188, 207 

Revere, Paul 81-83, 162 

Richards, Seth M 208 

William F 216 

Ricker, Levi J 189 

Rindge 45, 51 

Rivington, 82 

Rix, Edgar M 142 

Guy S 102 

Robbins, Howard S 50, 217, 218 

Roberts, Brian C 91, 143, 147 

Charles E. B 102, 194, 207 

Daniel C....91, 113, 131, 152, 184, 185, 
194, 207, 208. 

Robeson, Mrs. Henry B 214 

Robinson, Allan H 7, 53, 77, 108, 132 

Henry 132, 185 

Lieut.-Col 27 

Roby, Harley B 189, 194 

Rochambeau, Count de 155 

Rochester 45, 53, 77, 132, 191 

Rochester, N. Y 9,31,224 

Rogers, Robert 162, 165 

Rolfe, Benjamin 178 

Eugene W 102 

George H 45 

Herbert P 76, 107 

Paul 178 

Robert H 45 

Sarah 178 

Rollins, Frank W 101, 105 

Roncador Reef 167 

Rowe, Captain 86 

Rowell, Joseph 46 

Rowley, Mass 63 

Roxbury, Mass 165 

Roy, George C 186 

Rumford, Count, see Benjamin 
Thompson. 

Rush, 205 

Russell, Frank W 91 

Rye 66 

Sabine, Lorenzo 184 

Safford, Martha A . . 34 

St. Clair, 199 

St. Francis, Can 162 

St. John's River 205 

St. Lawrence River 161 



Salem 66 

Salem, Mass 172, 173 

Salisbury 196, 198 

Sampson, Cassander C 38 

San Francisco, Cal 214 

Sanborn, Jeremiah W 106 

Sanbornton 8 

Saratoga, N, Y 99, 163, 165, 166, 201- 

203, 205. 

Savannah, Ga 214 

Savannah River 177 

Sawyer, Charles F 216 

Charles H 61, 208 

William D 41, 113,131 

Scales, Burton T 189 

John 144, 209, 214 

Scammell, Alexander.. 164, 165, 202,203 

Schuyler, Catharine 99 

General 166, 199, 204, 205 

Scott, 25 

Seabrook 63 

Seal 30, 33 

Shaw, Christopher C 8, 16,131 

Elijah M 51 

Shedd, Charles G 144 

Shepardson, Reuben 106 

Sherburne, Henry 67, 68 

Sherman, Roger 205 

Ships : — 

Alabama 167 

Bon Homme Richard 167 

Constitution 207, 211 

Lively 197 

Ranger 116 

Scarborough 87, 195, 197 

Serapis 167 

Vulture 202 

Shirley, Edwin C 36, 52 

Robert L 36, 144 

Silsby, Arthur W 91 

George H 91 

SarahF 92 

Sisson, Mrs. Charles S 216 

William H 208 

Slayton, Hiram K....7, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 
20, 22, 29, 31, 36, 39, 40, 43, 46, 48, 
191. 
Smith, Jeremiah.... 35, 43, 48, 52, 76, 105, 
150. 

John B 57, 104, 113, 184, 193 

Judge 63 

Leland A 51 

Samuel F 118, 133,134 

Sidney M 76 

Smyth, Edward F. . 7, 13, 30, 43. 48, 52, 76 
Somersworth 15, 69, 70, 104, 224 



238 



INDEX. 



Somerville, Mass 50 

South Danville 55,76 

South Hampton 66 

Spalding, George B 142, 186, 191 

Spofford, Charles B 49, 53, 54, 77, 92, 

103, 131, 152, 185, 193, 194, 208. 

Spokane, Wash 147 

Springfield, 111 214 

Springfield, Mass 225 

Springfield, N. J 202 

Staniels, Charles E. . .7, 10, 11, 14, 20, 31- 
33, 37-39, 43, 44, 46, 48, 52, 54-56, 
59, 76, 94, 101, 105, 106, 131, 142, 
145, 151, 190, 193, 207. 

Mabel R 46, 130, 135 

Ruth E 51, 94, 98, 101 

Stark, Augustus H 34, 45, 208 

Carrie B 35 

Edith F 34,46 

Elizabeth P. B 34, 46, 77 

John .... 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 23-29, 34, 38, 
54, 59-61, 75, 77, 88, 150, 161, 163- 
167, 197, 199, 201, 202, 204, 208. 

John F 35,45 

Molly 166 

Statue, Langdon 153, 189 

Stark 12, 13, 15, 29, 37, 38 

Stearns, Ezra S 45, 62 

Samuel H 51 

William B 8, 19 

Steele, Catharine 100 

Steuben, Baron 155 

Stewart, Arthur C 144 

Charles H 144, 215 

SusanT 215 

Stickney, Charles 142 

Stiles, 25 

Stillwater, N. Y 165, 201, 203, 205 

Stratham 66 

Stony Point 165,202 

Straw, Daniel 150 

Daniel F 7, 147, 149, 150 

Lydia A 150 

Samuel 150 

William H 37, 107 

Stuart, Gilbert 62 

Sturtevant, John W 8, 16, 54 

Sudbury, Mass 224 

Sullivan, Ebenezer 155 

John. . . .27, 69, 75, 78, 80, 81, 83-85, 87- 
89, 155, 162, 164-166, 182, 196, 199, 
202, 204. 

Sulphur Springs, O 224 

Surrey 198 

Susquehanna River 203 

Swain, Elizabeth 63 



Swain, Richard 63 

Swanzey 197, 198 

Swett, Colonel 28 

Syracuse, N. Y 142, 186, 191, 225 

Tappan, Charles L.. .8, 12, 18, 21, 22, 31- 
42, 44, 46, 49, 51, 53, 54, 56, 108. 

Eva M 51 

Taylor, Professor 12 

Temple 197 

Tenney, George A 186 

Thomas, 24 

Thompson, Benjamin. ..171-174, 177-184 

Ebenezer 71, 125 

J. Walcott 102 

John 94 

John M 41 

Joshua 94 

Lucien 186 

Mrs 182 

Thornton, James S 167 

Matthew 70-72, 125, 167, 198 

Three Rivers, Can 199, 205 

Thurston, Charles H 76 

Franklin R 8 

Ticonderoga 199, 205 

Tilton 7, 13, 30, 38, 41, 43, 45, 48, 52, 76 

Tilton, Captain 86, 89 

Jonathan 67 

Timson, Julius C 189 

Titcomb, Captain 86 

Titus, Herbert B 46 

Todd, William C 187 

Tolford, John 161 

Touches, Chevalier de 155 

Towne, 25 

Trenton, N.J 164, 166, 168, 199 

Trumbull, 199 

Tucker, Mary A. K 44 

William J 102, 186, 187 

Tunbridge, Vt 102 

Upper Ammonoosuc River 161 

Valley Forge, Pa 99, 165, 199 

Vaughan, William 161 

Wait, Mary 64 

Waldo, Daniel 225 

Waldron, Adelaide C. . . .8, 13, 30, 75, 92, 
135. 

Captain. 79 

Dustin W 144 

George D 144 

John 7 

Richard 161 



INDEX. 



239 



Walker, Charles R 215 

Joseph B....8, 16, 17, 20, 96, 101, 171, 
214. 

Reuben E 34 

Timothy 175, 182, 183 

Wallingford, George H 91 

Samuel 150 

Ward, Colonel 24 

General 26 

Simon 144 

Warner 104 

Warner, -Jonathan 211 

Washington , D. C 56, 77, 166 

Washington, George. . . .13, 28, 59, 62, 80, 
87, 88, 90, 155, 156, 158, 164, 165, 172, 
199, 201-206, 213. 

Martha 99 

Wayne, Anthony 165, 199, 203-205 

Weare 8 

Weare, Elizabeth 63, 64 

Meshech 62, 64-75, 126, 163, 164 

Nathaniel 63, 64 

Peter 63, 64 

Webb, Samuel B 149 

William S 149 

Webster, Albert 34, 54 

Daniel 13, 174 

David 34,45 

Ebenezer 202 

Samuel 71 

Weeks, Thomas J 7, 10, 13, 30, 50 

Welch, John T 7 

Wells, Christopher H 104, 185 

Wentworth, 161 

Benning 211 

Captain 86 

John. .64, 67, 69, 70, 79, 80, 82, 122, 178, 
180, 182, 195, 211. 

Lady 212 

West, Benjamin 114 

West Concord 190 

West Point, N. Y 150, 184, 202 

Wheat, Thomas 7, 107 

Wheeler, Elbert 208 

Whipple, Prince 214 

William 71, 198, 213, 214 



Whitcomb, 24 

Colonel 24 

White Mountains 17s 

Whitefield 216 

Whitefleld, 161 

Whittaker, Worthen D 7 

Wibird, Richard 68 

Wight, Pemal C 44 

Wilkinson, . 201, 205 

Solon S 41 

Willard, Edward A 209 

James LeB 209 

Williams, 205 

Abraham L 8 

George H. A 101 

Samuel 173, 179 

Wilson, Allen 106 

Charles H 7 

Lena G 49 

Windham ie 

Windham, Conn 225 

Wingate, Paine 63, 70 

Winter Hill, Mass 88 

Winthrop, Professor 173 

Woburn, Mass 171-174, 180, 181 

Wolfeborough 179 

Wood, Major 27 

Woodbridge, WillianvC 1 19 

Woodsville 45 

Woodworth, Albert B 106, 207, 215 

Mrs. Albert B 215 

Sarah F 215 

Worcester, 197 

George A 91 

Samuel T 25 

Worcester, Mass 76, 203 

Yale College 225 

Yeaton, H. A 215 

Mrs. H. A 215 

York, Can 165 

York, Me 224 

Yorktown, Va. . . .61, 95, 164, 165, 168, 199, 

202, 203. 
Young, Oscar E 189 



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